Four national data feeds have gone live in Wales through the National Data and Analytics Platform (NDAP) to connect data across services.  ( 12 min )

NHS England has raised concerns that the inappropriate use of AI translation apps in healthcare could cause risks to patient safety.  ( 13 min )

Local Government Association (LGA) - This short resource has been developed to support the occupational therapy workforce as part of council preparations for CQC assessment. It summarises the key principles of the Care Act 2014 and the universal and specific duties placed on councils as they relate to occupational therapy, with particular focus on prevention, wellbeing, and promoting independence. Where...

Local Government Association (LGA) - This resource was developed following consultation with principal occupational therapists (POTs) from the national and ADASS regional POT networks and incorporates learning and tips from POTs who have gone through Care Quality Commission (CQC) assessment. Guidance

NHS England - This toolkit will help commissioners, service managers, health play practitioners and clinical leaders to design, plan and deliver high-quality health play services for babies, children and young people. The resources include guidelines, recommended standards and a quality checklist. Toolkit

Royal College of Nursing (RCN) - This submission to the government's 2025 Spending Review argues that there is an opportunity to start addressing some of the challenges within the nursing workforce and wider health and care system. The RCN ask that the 10-Year Health Plan and the forthcoming Workforce Plan for England, and the Spending Review are aligned in terms...

Cancer Research UK - This report finds that over the last 50 years, the proportion of the UK population dying from cancer has fallen by more than a fifth. However it also finds while people are now less likely to die from cancer, more people are likely to get it. And due to the UK’s growing and ageing population, the...

GP practices will not be asked to pay back seniority payments they received in error before 2016/17, Primary Care Support England (PCSE) has confirmed. NHS England and PCSE have been undertaking a ‘reconciliation exercise’ for seniority payments, to claim back £28m the commissioner has ‘overpaid’ GPs over the years, with some practices facing potentially large bills The post GP practices will not be asked to repay seniority overpayments received before 2016 appeared first on Pulse Today.  ( 8 min )

Minister Smyth addressed the Royal College of Physicians annual conference  ( 12 min )

Government crack-down on rip-off temporary staffing agencies delivers unprecedented savings, as NHS trusts are urged to eradicate agency spending altogether  ( 8 min )

The 2 million vulnerable people who rely on lifesaving telecare alarms to call for help have today been urged to get in touch with their landline providers so companies can provide additional support for them during the switch to digital landlines.  ( 13 min )

Institute for Fiscal Studies - The Spending Review 2025 will set detailed departmental budgets for most of this parliament. This analysis examines the key choices facing the government on spending in the NHS, health and care, pay and the public sector. Report

The Health Foundation - This analysis sets out the Health Foundation’s priorities for health and care investment at the Spending Review and options for how they could be achieved. It draws on evidence submitted to the Treasury in February 2025. It covers the investment needed in public health, the NHS and adult social care services; additionally, it sets out policy...

The suite of local enhanced services offered to GP practices across England varies massively, with ICBs free to decide the number and value of services they commission. In this part of Pulse’s new investigation into LESs, Eliza Parr looks at how much ICBs spend per patient Pulse’s investigation into local enhanced service (LES) funding at The post How does local enhanced service funding vary across England? appeared first on Pulse Today.  ( 5 min )

A programme of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy has been shown to be beneficial in people with depression who had not benefitted from NHS Talking Therapies. The effect seen was small-to-moderate but comparable to that shown with antidepressants, the researchers said. At less than £100 per person it was also a cost-effective alternative to usual treatment, the The post Mindfulness approach effective where NHS talking therapies have not worked appeared first on Pulse Today.  ( 8 min )

The chair of the RCGP has written to the UK foreign secretary, calling for the Government to address the escalating healthcare crisis in Gaza. In a letter published 30 May, RCGP chair Professor Kamila Hawthorne told David Lammy that she was ‘profoundly concerned’ about the impact of the Israel-Gaza war on health services and those The post RCGP chair calls on UK Government to address Gaza healthcare crisis appeared first on Pulse Today.  ( 7 min )

A community health trust is pulling out of all its GP contracts, stating the national shift towards ‘neighbourhood care’ as the reason. Humber Teaching NHS Foundation Trust currently manages three GP practices under a mixture of GMS and PMS contracts, and across four surgery sites.  It announced this month that all three practices will be The post Trust hands back all GP contracts due to ‘neighbourhood care’ shift appeared first on Pulse Today.  ( 8 min )

The BMA in Northern Ireland is developing options for collective action which GPs will vote on via a referendum, the union has announced. Last month, the country’s health minister imposed the GMS contract for 2025/26 on GP practices for the first time, despite the offer being overwhelmingly rejected by the profession. Now the Northern Ireland The post GPs to vote on options for collective action in Northern Ireland appeared first on Pulse Today.  ( 7 min )

Around 3 in 4 patients find it easy to contact a GP, up more than 10% since last summer as the NHS drives to improve access. Almost every (99%) GP practice in England now has a digital telephone system in place to make it easier for people to get through to their family doctor. Office […]  ( 6 min )

Tens of thousands of people have volunteered to help the NHS over the last year, according to new figures. From people in their late teens to those in their late eights volunteers have helped with tasks such as directing loved ones around hospitals, collecting medication or basic admin tasks. Around 70,000 people volunteer with the […]  ( 5 min )

The newly elected members for the Digital Health Networks Advisory Panel 2025–2027 term have been announced.  ( 13 min )

Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust has signed a 15-year contract with SYNLAB for the delivery of a ‘hub and spoke’ pathology service.  ( 12 min )

Barts Health NHS Trust has implemented Sectra’s Anonymise and Export functionality, which de-identifies medical images for research purposes.  ( 12 min )

GPs make up more than half of health professionals receiving support from a confidential specialist NHS mental health service.  ( 3 min )

A GP who resigned from an additional roles reimbursement scheme (ARRS) job after just six months - despite a long struggle to find work - has revealed why leaving was the only option.  ( 3 min )

WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus praised the commitment shown by the Organization’s Member States which, during nearly two weeks of meetings, adopted historic measures to make the world safer and healthier. The landmark adoptions of the first global agreement to make the world safer from future pandemics and increase in financial support to the World Health Organization were the highlights of the Seventy-eighth World Health Assembly, which ran from 19–27 May. Immediately after, the WHO Executive Board met for two days, until 29 May, to address the Health Assembly’s outcome, WHO governance reform and the nomination and appointment of regional directors.  Dr Tedros said Member States demonstrated their commitment to WHO and multilateral action to protect and promote public …  ( 10 min )

Today, the World Health Organization (WHO) published its first-ever position paper on immunization products to protect infants against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) – the leading cause of acute lower respiratory infections in children globally. Every year, RSV causes about 100 000 deaths and over 3.6 million hospitalizations in children under the age of 5 years worldwide. About half of these deaths occur in infants younger than 6 months of age. The vast majority (97%) of RSV deaths in infants occur in low- and middle-income countries where there is limited access to supportive medical care, such as oxygen or hydration. Published in the Weekly Epidemiological Record (WER), the position paper outlines WHO recommendations for two immunization products: a maternal vaccine that can be give…  ( 9 min )

The impact assessment presents the impacts of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill.  ( 4 min )

Sets out who is eligible to apply for the Healthy Start scheme under the extended criteria, and how to apply.  ( 3 min )

A full list of schemes included in the Estates Safety Fund 2025 to 2026, addressing critical infrastructure and safety risk in NHS hospital buildings.  ( 3 min )

Government investing £1.2 billion to fix crumbling hospitals and schools across England  ( 8 min )

People who develop type 1 diabetes (T1D) in adulthood have an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and death, a study has found. Patients diagnosed later in life do not have a better prognosis than those diagnosed earlier, say researchers from the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden. Researchers have identified smoking, poor glucose control and obesity as the The post People with adult-onset type 1 diabetes face increased risk of CVD, study finds appeared first on Pulse Today.  ( 8 min )

Local enhanced services form a crucial part of GP income, helping practices stay afloat. But a major new Pulse investigation shows that in many areas, ICB funding is stagnating. Here, Eliza Parr looks at the impact on practices ‘If a management consultancy firm was asked to review a GP surgery then a fair and expected The post Are local enhanced services unfunded charity work? appeared first on Pulse Today.  ( 15 min )

Following their recent study, Drs Victoria Tzortziou Brown, William Palmer, Lucina Rolewicz, and Giuliano Russo explore the retention patterns of recently qualified GPs Earlier this year, it was revealed that over 40% of GP registrars who qualified in 2022 and 2023 have yet to take up substantive roles in UK general practice. This troubling figure The post Expert analysis: why are we not retaining GPs? appeared first on Pulse Today.  ( 5 min )

Depression in late-life is associated with an increased risk of dementia, a new study has found.  Researchers found a ‘consistent relationship’ between late-life depression and risk for all cause dementia. The study, published in eClinicalMedicine, highlights the importance of managing depression ‘across the life-course’, with ‘opportune access’ to both pharmacological and nonpharmacological treatments, in order The post Late-life depression associated with increased risk of dementia appeared first on Pulse Today.  ( 8 min )

More than 1,600 GPs are missing out on millions of pounds in pension tax compensation due to ‘administrative failures’, a new data analysis has revealed. FOI data from NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) gathered by Medifintech, a specialist provider of NHS pension analysis, has found that nearly 4,000 NHS staff will miss out on over The post Over 1,600 GPs miss out on pension tax compensation due to ‘admin failures’ appeared first on Pulse Today.  ( 8 min )

At-home and domicilliary provider Trinity Homecare has completed a successful pilot of CareBrain's AI-driven support app.  ( 12 min )

Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust (LTHT) has deployed Annalise.ai’s AI chest X-ray solution to speed up diagnosis and improve patient care.  ( 13 min )

This contracts and go lives roundup includes an electronic patient record (EPR) go-live across St George’s, Epsom and St Helier Hospitals.  ( 13 min )

NHS Employers - This case study outlines how Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust used an innovative flexible working model to combat escalating demand for imaging diagnostic services. Case study

NHS Confederation - Primary care provider collaboratives are fundamental to the successful delivery of a neighbourhood health service. Their role will be pivotal in shifting care from hospitals to community, reducing health inequalities and ensuring that everyone has access to high-quality care. In partnership with KPMG, the NHS Confederation's Primary Care Network has been exploring what is needed to unlock...

Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) - The Department of Health and Social Care commissioned Ipsos UK, in partnership with the Institute of Public Care at Oxford Brookes University, to conduct an evaluation of the Better Care Fund (BCF) Support Programme. The evaluation explores local authorities' perceptions of the design and delivery of the BCF support programme; the enablers...

Severity: Medium CVE-2025-5307 could allow a local attacker to disclose sensitive information or execute arbitrary code CVE-2025-5307 could allow a local attacker to disclose sensitive information or execute arbitrary code Updated: 30 May 2025

Tens of thousands of patients with lung and breast cancer are to benefit from a “revolutionary” blood test on the NHS across England which can speed up access to targeted therapy. The new ‘liquid biopsy’ test can help fast-track lung cancer patients to receive targeted therapy up to two weeks earlier, while helping some avoid […]  ( 7 min )

Dr Matt Harris and London GP Dr Connie Junghans Minton explain how an initiative involving community health and wellbeing workers, which is based on a long-running scheme from Brazil, is helping to tackle health inequalities.  ( 3 min )

GPs have missed out on tax compensation worth millions of pounds because of complex rules around a scheme designed to protect NHS staff from charges linked to the annual allowance on pensions, experts say.  ( 2 min )

In the latest in our series, Dr David Capehorn asked what the likely diagnosis is in this case of a child presenting repeatedly with a limp. Answer revealed below! Note that details of the case have been altered to protect individuals’ identities     A four-year-old boy initially presents to clinic with a limp. His mother The post Case of the month – answers: Did you get what was causing this child’s limp? appeared first on Pulse Today.  ( 9 min )

Community cardiology specialist Dr Peter Savill discusses five key challenges for GPs in the management of atrial fibrillation. Learning objectives This module will support your knowledge of management of AF, in particular: 1. GPs fairly often see patients presenting with mild shortness of breath or palpitations who turn out to have atrial fibrillation (AF), but The post CPD: Challenges in atrial fibrillation appeared first on Pulse Today.  ( 9 min )

Government claims that physician associates (PAs) are trained to the ‘medical model’ are designed to ‘mislead’, the BMA has argued. Academic leaders at the union have put out a statement today examining the use of the term ‘medical model’, which they say is now an ‘outdated and inaccurate’ description of doctors’ training. The Government and The post Claiming physician associates are trained in ‘medical model’ is ‘misleading’, says BMA  appeared first on Pulse Today.  ( 8 min )

The GMC has updated its fitness to practise (FTP) guidance to ensure ‘greater consistency’ in decisions about whether doctors are investigated or taken to tribunal.  Updates to various guidance documents, published today, are intended to provide all GMC case examiners and decision makers with a ‘single set of core principles’, while also bringing the FTP The post FTP decisions will be more ‘consistent’ thanks to updated guidance, GMC claims appeared first on Pulse Today.  ( 8 min )

Exclusive New data has suggested that one in six ICBs reduced their local enhanced service (LES) funding for general practice last year, Pulse can reveal. According to data obtained via Freedom of Information (FOI) requests, seven ICBs across England reduced their total funding for all local enhanced services between 2023/24 and 2024/25.  FOI data from The post Exclusive: One in six ICBs reduced LES funding for GP practices last year appeared first on Pulse Today.  ( 10 min )

ChatGPT can rewrite clinic letters from consultants to make them more easily understandable to patients without losing key information and potentially free up GP time, a study has found. If adopted, the approach has the potential to free up time in general practice as patients were less likely to book appointments with their GP to The post Using AI to simplify clinic letters for patients can free up GP time, study finds appeared first on Pulse Today.  ( 8 min )

Contact details of the people in child death overview panels (CDOPs) who are responsible for receiving child death notifications.  ( 8 min )

Findings of the evaluation of the 2023 to 2025 BCF Support Programme, which supports local areas to commission and deliver integrated health and care services.  ( 4 min )

Around 300,000 children across 1,200 primary schools to benefit from earlier and better neurodiversity support.  ( 11 min )

Beverley Bryant, one of the most experienced NHS digital leaders, has been confirmed as a speaker at Digital Health Summer Schools 2025.  ( 13 min )

Our coffee briefing covers UHCW's new research hub and news that DBTH will adopt Sheffield Teaching Hospitals' Oracle Cerner EPR.  ( 13 min )

NHS Education for Scotland has awarded BJSS a £27.8m contract to help deliver the Digital Front Door app for health and social care services.  ( 13 min )

NHSE is investigating a cyber incident at two NHS trusts after hackers exploited a vulnerability in software used to manage mobile phones.  ( 13 min )

On World No Tobacco Day, the World Health Organization (WHO) today launches a new publication and calls on governments to urgently ban all flavours in tobacco and nicotine products, including cigarettes, pouches, hookahs and e-cigarettes, to protect youth from addiction and disease. Flavours like menthol, bubble gum and cotton candy are masking the harshness of tobacco and nicotine products turning toxic products into youth-friendly bait. Flavours not only make it harder to quit but have also been linked to serious lung diseases. Cigarettes, which still kill up to half of their users, also come in flavours or can have flavours added to them. “Flavours are fuelling a new wave of addiction, and should be banned,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of WHO. “They undermine de…  ( 7 min )

The World Health Organization (WHO), Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) and the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) announced today the expansion of the successful Health Security Partnership to Strengthen Disease Surveillance in Africa (HSPA) to seven countries on the continent.  Africa experiences more disease outbreaks than any other part of the world. While significant progress has been made in strengthening disease surveillance over the past decade, no country can tackle today’s complex health threats alone. The Health Security Partnership strengthens disease surveillance and epidemic intelligence across the African continent, enabling countries to better detect and respond to public health threats - whether they are natural, accidental or deliberate. Launched in …  ( 7 min )

Funding per patient for practices in England rose by less than 3% in 2023/24, according to NHS data that experts say reveals the root cause of an unemployment crisis that has left thousands of GPs out of work.  ( 2 min )

Taking antidepressants for more than two years is associated with a higher risk of withdrawal symptoms compared to short-term use, UK researchers have found. The team from University College London (UCL) found that those who have been taking antidepressants for longer also tend to experience worse withdrawal symptoms, over a longer period and are less The post Long-term use of antidepressants associated with higher risk of withdrawal symptoms appeared first on Pulse Today.  ( 5 min )

The CQC has urged healthcare providers including GP practices to ‘disregard’ scores at evidence category level that currently appear in draft assessment reports. It has reassured providers that the inclusion of such scores does not indicate a change to their assessment method, but is down IT technical constraints. Last December, the CQC announced it would no The post CQC tells GP practices to ignore some scores on draft reports due to IT issues appeared first on Pulse Today.  ( 7 min )

Copperfield muses on the existence of an almighty ‘Great God of General Practice’ on one of his more trying day duties I now know whether God exists. By which I mean the Great God of General Practice (GGoGP), who may or may not, each day, protect us from clinical catastrophe, litigation and stress-induced coronary ischaemia. The post God knows how we get through day duty appeared first on Pulse Today.  ( 5 min )

Weight-loss drugs cannot be seen as short-term solutions by the NHS and GPs will inevitably need to engage with obesity management as the medicines are rolled out, researchers have said. Researchers from the University of Oxford said that while the medications are highly effective in helping patients lose weight, their recent findings strike a ‘cautionary The post GPs need to engage with obesity management as weight-loss jabs are rolled out, say researchers appeared first on Pulse Today.  ( 9 min )

Health commissioners failed to properly assess risk when closing a homeless GP practice, an independent whistleblowing review has found. The Hunter Street homeless practice, which was run by the local health board as part of a homelessness health service, was closed by the Glasgow City Health and Social Care Partnership (HSCP) in 2023. Following the The post Health commissioners ‘failed’ to assess risks of closing homeless GP practice appeared first on Pulse Today.  ( 10 min )

Catch up quickly with our weekly round-up of key news stories for general practice.  ( 3 min )

GP practices need around £100m in additional funding to deliver pay increases promised by the government, accountants say.  ( 3 min )

The  Seventy-eighth World Health Assembly (WHA78), the annual meeting of World Health Organization’s (WHO) Member States, came to a close Tuesday, as health leaders lauded vast accomplishments and global solidarity. The Assembly, WHO’s highest decision-making body, convened from 19 May to 27 May, under the theme “One World for Health”. Member States considered approximately 75 items and sub-items across all areas of health, engaging in lively debate and adopting consequential resolutions to improve health for all. “The words ‘historic’ and ‘landmark’ are overused, but they are perfectly apt to describe this year’s World Health Assembly,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General. “The adoption of the Pandemic Agreement and the approval of the next increase in assessed contri…  ( 10 min )

Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust has partnered with Aneira Health to develop an AI-enabled workplace healthcare service for women.  ( 12 min )

Researchers at Imperial have developed an AI model that creates personalised animations of human hearts to help identify abnormalities.  ( 12 min )

Joseph Rowntree Foundation - This briefing suggests that people are unaware of the challenges of the social care system and thus are likely not preparing for a future in which they may have to meet significant care costs or care themselves. It found that only 19% of the general public correctly guessed that the cost of professional home care services...

Seeks views from individuals, professionals and organisations about visiting and accompanying in care homes, hospitals and hospices in England since Regulation 9A came into force on 6 April 2024.  ( 5 min )

More than 5 million patients have received help from high street pharmacies for minor illnesses, as the NHS brings care closer to people’s homes.  Around 2.4 million people received help without booking an appointment at their local pharmacy for seven common conditions including sore throat, earache or shingles. Pharmacies delivered the most consultations for acute […]  ( 6 min )

Countries agree to update action plan to reduce deaths from antimicrobial resistance  The Seventy-eighth World Health Assembly approved a decision to update the Global action plan (GAP) on antimicrobial resistance (AMR), for discussion at next year’s World Health Assembly (WHA79) in 2026. An estimated 4.71 million deaths were associated with bacterial AMR as of 2021, according to the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD). The GAP update will offer a practical framework for the next 10 years to achieve the targets and commitments included in the political declaration of the United Nations General Assembly High-Level Meeting on AMR in 2024 – including a 10% reduction in global deaths associated with bacterial AMR by 2030. Since the global action plan was adop…  ( 8 min )

Exclusive EMIS has decided to postpone maintenance planned for today following concerns raised by GPs about increased demand after the bank holiday.  Optum, the company that acquired EMIS in 2023, told GP practices last Wednesday that it would perform ‘essential maintenance’ impacting EMIS Web and EMIS-X over lunchtime on Tuesday 27 May. Last week GPs The post EMIS postpones system maintenance following GP concerns appeared first on Pulse Today.  ( 5 min )

Doctor leaders will vote on whether UK medical school graduates should be ‘prioritised’ ahead of international graduates for foundation programme posts. At the BMA’s annual representative meeting next month, union representatives will take part in a debate and vote on two motions around reforming postgraduate medical training, as the current system is ‘failing’ doctors. They The post BMA leaders to debate ‘prioritising’ UK medical graduates for foundation programmes appeared first on Pulse Today.  ( 11 min )

Dr Saroja Forester on the importance of GPs’ role in improving children’s school attendance It’s a typical mid-morning mid-week consultation. Eight-year-old L has been booked in by his mother, Miss W, who is worried about his cough. In they come, accompanied by a toddler in buggy and a six-year-old playing on a phone. It’s another The post ‘School attendance is everyone’s business – that includes GPs’ appeared first on Pulse Today.  ( 10 min )

A number of ICBs across the country are planning to merge or create new ‘clusters’ in a bid to reduce running costs.  In the East of England, there are plans to reduce the number of ICBs from six to three, although the exact configuration is yet to be confirmed.  Meanwhile, in the South West region, The post ICBs across the country plan mergers to cut running costs appeared first on Pulse Today.  ( 8 min )

Exclusive More than half of GPs want to see staff costs ringfenced in a new wholesale GMS contract, the results of a new Pulse survey have revealed. A poll of 667 English GPs showed that 54% ‘strongly agreed’ that staff costs should be ringfenced and funded separately to the global sum as part of a The post More than half of GPs want to see staff costs ringfenced in new GMS contract appeared first on Pulse Today.  ( 9 min )

Re:State - This report outlines a model that fundamentally changes the configuration of the modern hospital. The paper proposes a model that combines a radical increase in virtual care with renewed approaches at system-wide integration. It argues that instead of inefficiently relocating hospital staff and infrastructure to communities, hospital-level care should be delivered as a service through entirely new care...

NHS Providers - This report features four case studies demonstrating how trusts are successfully improving services for children and young people across a variety of sectors: delivering mental health support to children and young people in the community; collaborating at neighbourhood level for the benefit of children and young people; improving access to care through digital interventions; and using co-production...

lnstitute for Fiscal Studies - This report finds that Sure Start – one of England’s biggest early years programmes – generated widespread and long-lasting benefits for children. It improved educational outcomes and health, and reduced school absences and less severe special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). Report Press release

IQVIA Institute for Human Data Science - This report profiles the current state of research and development in oncology, including key mechanisms, targets, and cancer types being investigated as well as pointing to some novel areas which are only just emerging. It also looks at metrics of clinical development productivity. Report More detail

International Longevity Centre (ILC) - This report warns that health systems in high-income countries are dangerously underprepared for the growing number of people ageing with HIV. Thanks to advances in antiretroviral therapy, people with HIV are living longer than ever before, but social, economic and health systems have failed to keep up. Report Press release

University Hospitals of Northamptonshire has launched a Data Academy to provide training for patient and non-patient facing staff.  ( 12 min )

Today's coffee briefing covers £13m in green funding for Newham Hospital, plus insights from the Philips Future Health Index 2025.  ( 13 min )

Clinicians at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust can now issue eMED3 electronic fit notes directly from the Nervecentre EPR.  ( 12 min )

Leeds Teaching Hospitals has launched a market engagement exercise to help shape a development plan for its proposed Innovation Village site.  ( 12 min )

Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS Foundation Trust has gone live with an electronic patient record (EPR) system from Epic.  ( 12 min )

Exclusive: Locum GPs struggling to find employment are considering leaving the NHS to work in childcare or as teachers, a sessional GP organisation has revealed.  ( 3 min )

Resident doctors including GP registrars have begun to receive ballots from the BMA over industrial action on pay.  ( 3 min )

A record 166,360 more adults in England began receiving support last year from a world-leading NHS public health initiative, which helps people lose weight and make lifestyles changes to stop or delay them developing Type 2 diabetes, according to new data. The analysis also shows that more than 900,000 adults at high risk of developing […]  ( 7 min )

Countries overwhelmingly agree on a new voluntary target for air pollution and health   Member States at the Seventy-eighth World Health Assembly strongly approved an updated road map for an enhanced global response to the adverse health effects of air pollution, reaffirming their commitment to protect populations from the world’s largest environmental health risk. The decision updates the 2016 strategy endorsed under WHA69/18 and builds on the landmark resolution WHA68.8 adopted in 2015.  Today, 99% of the world’s population breathes air that does not meet WHO air quality guidelines. The health burden from air pollution falls disproportionately on vulnerable and marginalized populations, particularly in low-resource settings where fragile health systems face compound challenges.  Air p…  ( 19 min )

Thousands of cancer patients will see faster treatment thanks to new radiotherapy machines  ( 11 min )

The World Health Organization (WHO) and the African Union (AU) Commission renewed their longstanding strategic partnership today with the signing of an updated Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the sidelines of the 78th World Health Assembly in Geneva. This renewed agreement reaffirms the joint commitment to advancing health security, universal health coverage, and sustainable development across the African continent at a time of unprecedented financial challenges in the global health landscape. It further underscores the African Union’s leadership in fostering collective action, inclusive partnerships, and regional resilience, and positions the Department of Health, Humanitarian Affairs, and Social Development of the AU Commission at the heart of the continent’s health policy implement…  ( 9 min )

First-ever rare diseases resolution underscores equity and inclusion  Member States today adopted a landmark resolution declaring rare diseases a global health priority in an effort to ensure that no patients are left behind. The Resolution recognizes that over 300 million people globally live with one of more than 7000 rare diseases, most of which begin in childhood and can lead to significant physical, emotional, and financial hardship.   The Resolution urges countries to integrate rare diseases into national health planning, improve diagnosis and care through universal health coverage, promote inclusive policies, and accelerate innovation, research, and access to affordable treatment. Importantly, the Resolution mandates WHO to develop a comprehensive 10-year global action plan on rar…  ( 12 min )

New guideline calls for improved global access to controlled medicines  The World Health Organization (WHO) has released a rapid communication outlining its new guideline on balanced national policies for controlled medicines. The guideline was officially presented during a high-level side event at the Seventy-eighth World Health Assembly. It is designed to support countries in ensuring safe, equitable and affordable access to essential controlled medicines which are critical for treating acute and chronic pain, mental health conditions, substance use disorders and other serious health issues.   Controlled medicines, such as opioids, benzodiazepines, barbiturates, amphetamines and dissociative anaesthetics like ketamine, are drugs that have authorized use for medical or scientific purpos…  ( 23 min )

A Government-commissioned safety review of physician associates (PAs) which intends to provide ‘certainty’ for GPs is expected to report at the end of June. The review’s chair Professor Gillian Leng met with the RCGP and other ‘key stakeholders’ yesterday to discuss her ‘evidence-gathering process’ which was designed to provide ‘as comprehensive a position as possible’. The post GPs can expect ‘certainty’ from physician associate review at end of June appeared first on Pulse Today.  ( 8 min )

Exclusive An MP and former home secretary has slammed Capita for operating ‘an extremely outdated and insufficient model’, causing ‘unacceptable’ errors and delays to GP pensions. In a letter seen by Pulse, Suella Braverman raised ‘grave concerns’ about Primary Care Support England (PCSE) and the company Capita, which has handled back-office functions for GPs such The post Capita slammed by former home secretary over ‘unacceptable’ GP pension errors appeared first on Pulse Today.  ( 5 min )

Reflecting on the rebranding of ‘obese’ to ‘living with obesity’, Copperfield laments the epidemic of medical labelling While widening the doors and reinforcing the floors in anticipation of the stampede desperate to be Mounjaro’d, I noticed something interesting. The current guidance describes the artist formerly known as obese as, ‘living with obesity’. I was completely The post The living with obesity epidemic appeared first on Pulse Today.  ( 5 min )

New ICB plans to improve primary care access in London will require GP practices to respond to calls within 10 minutes and online consultations within one day. North West London ICB has set out the 2025/26 specification for its access enhanced service, worth £6.6m, after it was forced to scrap a controversial proposal for same-day The post ICB imposes GP call response targets as part of £6.6m access funding appeared first on Pulse Today.  ( 9 min )

A feature allowing patients to track the status of their prescription has gone live for nearly 1,500 pharmacies, NHS England has announced. All Boots stores are among the pharmacies offering the service, with 5,000 more expected to join in the next year, covering 60% of England, the commissioner said. The feature enables patients to check The post NHS App prescription tracking goes live for 1,500 pharmacies appeared first on Pulse Today.  ( 8 min )

Health officials in Northern Ireland have given the go ahead for the first regional obesity management service to support the roll out of weight-loss medication in the community. The service will involve GPs alongside nurses, dieticians, psychologists, pharmacists, social prescribers and occupational therapy. However, the BMA warned that with much of the work likely to The post NI to get first obesity management service to support weight-loss medication roll out appeared first on Pulse Today.  ( 8 min )

A GP who saved her practice from a potential takeover has spoken about the ‘magical’ experience of attending one of Buckingham Palace’s garden parties.  ( 3 min )

UK governments should work with the BMA to develop an 'index of general practice costs' that could be used to help determine uplifts to the expense element of GP contracts in future, the Doctors and Dentists Pay Review Body (DDRB) has said.  ( 3 min )

Writing exclusively for GPonline, health and social care secretary Wes Streeting says this year's pay deal shows the government is committed to working in partnership with the medical profession to rebuild the NHS.  ( 6 min )

Talking General Practice speaks to Dr Caroline Watson, chair of the RCGP Secure Environments Group, about working as a GP in prisons and other secure environments.  ( 3 min )

This call for evidence is seeking the views of the public, as well as health and social care professionals, academics, employers and stakeholder organisations to inform a Men’s Health Strategy for England.  ( 4 min )

We want to hear your views and ideas about men's health issues. Your ideas will help the government to make a Men's Health Strategy for England.  ( 4 min )

Statistics and commentary on abortions carried out in 2017.  ( 5 min )

An “Amazon-style” prescription tracking feature has been rolled out in the NHS App to reduce unnecessary calls and visits to pharmacies.  ( 13 min )

The prototype of a machine that can detect tumours in women with dense breast tissue has been developed in Newcastle.  ( 13 min )

Nine 'high-potential' digital health companies have been selected to participate in a new, Midlands-focused accelerator programme.  ( 12 min )

Senior Salaries Review Body - This report sets out the Senior Salaries Review Body’s analysis of evidence. It makes recommendations on the remuneration of senior civil servants, senior officers in the Armed Forces, members of the judiciary, and senior leaders in the NHS in England. Report Senior Salaries Review Body - publications

Review Body on Doctors' and Dentists' Remuneration - This report contains recommendations and observations from the Review Body on Doctors’ and Dentists’ Remuneration on doctors’ and dentists’ pay in England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Report Review Body on Doctors' and Dentists' Remuneration - publications

NHS Pay Review Body - This report sets out the NHS Pay Review Body’s analysis of evidence provided by relevant organisations and makes observations on the pay of NHS staff paid under Agenda for Change for 2025. Report NHS Pay Review Body - publications

Millions of patients can now track their prescriptions thanks to the rollout of a new feature in the NHS App helping to reduce unnecessary calls and visits to pharmacies. NHS England today announced that nearly 1,500 high street chemists – including every Boots in England – are now offering the service, which enables patients to […]  ( 6 min )

Israel’s intensified military operations continue to threaten an already weakened health system, amidst worsening mass population displacement and acute shortages of food, water, medical supplies, fuel and shelter.  Four major hospitals in Gaza (Kamal Adwan Hospital, Indonesia Hospital, Hamad Hospital for Rehabilitation and Prosthetics, and European Gaza Hospital) have had to suspend medical services in the past week due to their proximity to hostilities or evacuation zones, and attacks. WHO has recorded 28 attacks on health care in Gaza during this period and 697 attacks since October 2023. Only 19 of Gaza Strip’s 36 hospitals remain operational, including one hospital providing basic care for the remaining patients still inside the hospital, and are struggling under severe supply short…  ( 10 min )

Health progress despite financial challenges  Thursday’s Committee B noted the Results Report 2024, and the financing and implementation of the Programme budget 2024–2025. Member States commended the transparency, and the level of detail provided. At the same time, Member States noted with concern that while some important achievements have been realized, progress is insufficient in reaching the SDG targets. In addition, Member States also advocated for more equitable funding across the Organization. The committee approved decision 78/17 Add.1 and 78/17 Add.2.  Delegates welcomed WHO’s Investment Round (IR), which will fund the Organization’s Fourteenth General Programme of Work – 2025–2028 (GPW 14) – its global health strategy for the next four years that has the potential to save 40 mi…  ( 15 min )

The Department of Health and Social Care confirms a 4% pay rise for consultants, speciality doctors, specialists, GPs and dentists, backdated to 1 April 2025.  ( 3 min )

The Department of Health and Social Care confirms a 3.6% pay rise for NHS Agenda for Change (AfC) staff, backdated to 1 April 2025.  ( 3 min )

The Department of Health and Social Care confirms a 5.4% pay rise for resident doctors, backdated to 1 April 2025.  ( 3 min )

Recommendations from the NHS Pay Review Body on the pay of NHS staff paid on Agenda for Change terms and conditions in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.  ( 3 min )

Recommendations and observations from the Review Body on Doctors’ and Dentists’ Remuneration on doctors’ and dentists’ pay in England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.  ( 4 min )

Recommendations from the Senior Salaries Review Body on the remuneration of senior staff in the public sector.  ( 3 min )

NHS workers, including doctors and nurses, will receive real terms pay rises after the Health Secretary accepted the Pay Review Bodies’ pay recommendations  ( 8 min )

Non-executive appointments to the Department of Health and Social Care's public bodies and committees from April 2025 to March 2026.  ( 4 min )

Welsh GPs will receive a 4% pay uplift for 2025/26, after the Welsh Government accepted recommendations made by the doctors’ pay review body. The Review Body on Doctors’ and Dentists’ Remuneration (DDRB) recommended a headline 4% increase to salary scales, pay ranges and the pay elements of contracts from 1 April, which applies to all the nations The post Welsh Government accepts DDRB recommendation on GP pay uplift appeared first on Pulse Today.  ( 7 min )

Continuing our Masterclass series, Dr Steve Brinksman explains the key points in understanding and managing alcohol use disorder in general practice. This series showcases content from our Pulse Reference site, which supports GPs in making diagnoses and managing key conditions Accepted definition and diagnostic criteria Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is characterized by an impaired ability to stop or The post Masterclass: A complete GP’s guide to alcohol use disorder appeared first on Pulse Today.  ( 11 min )

GPs in England will receive a 4% pay rise for 2025/26 backdated to April, the Government has announced. The Government committed to ‘uplifting the pay element of the GP contract’ by 4%, uplifting the minimum and maximum of the pay range for salaried GPs by 4% and uplifting the GP educators pay scale by 4% The post England GPs to receive 4% pay uplift backdated to April appeared first on Pulse Today.  ( 8 min )

Exclusive Diagnostic services for GPs to refer patients with non-specific cancer symptoms are facing closure around the country after a report did not find clear evidence of their cost effectiveness or impact. The evaluation commissioned by NHS England concluded ‘it is not possible to say with certainty whether [non-specific symptom] NSS pathways are cost-effective or The post GPs face loss of referral option for non-urgent cancer symptoms appeared first on Pulse Today.  ( 8 min )

Additional scans on top of mammography can detect more cases of breast cancer when offered to women with very dense breast tissue, a UK trial has reported. A trial of more than 9,000 women at 10 sites found that extra imaging done with abbreviated MRI or contrast-enhanced mammography picked up cancers that had not been detected The post Women with dense breasts ‘should have additional cancer screening tests’ appeared first on Pulse Today.  ( 7 min )

GPs have raised concerns about EMIS IT system maintenance planned for the day after the bank holiday, which is typically the ‘busiest day’ for practice workload. Optum, the company that acquired EMIS in 2023, warned GP practices today that it will perform ‘essential maintenance’ impacting EMIS Web and EMIS-X over lunchtime on Tuesday 27 May.  The post GP concern over EMIS maintenance on day after bank holiday appeared first on Pulse Today.  ( 8 min )

The government has backed a 4% uplift to GP pay in 2025/26 after accepting the recommendations of the Doctors and Dentists Review Body (DDRB).  ( 3 min )

The full-time equivalent (FTE) fully-qualified GP workforce in England rose during the past year, and latest data show the number of GPs employed under the additional roles reimbursement scheme (ARRS) is also rising.  ( 3 min )

The King's Fund - 20-40% of the population are living with multiple long-term conditions, this is a number that’s set to grow. But siloed funding flows and current models of care are set up to treat individual conditions, rather than taking a holistic view of a patient and their conditions. This long read looks to examples of joined-up care being...

Sands and Tommy's Policy Unit - This report estimates that at least 2,500 fewer babies would have died since 2018 if the government had achieved its ambition of halving the 2010 rates of stillbirth, neonatal and maternal deaths in England. It concludes that progress made to date falls short of what is needed to stop babies dying every day in...

NHS Confederation - This report describes how bodies operating at the health and care system’s five geographical scales – national, regional, systems, place and neighbourhood – could work together to achieve a more integrated and devolved health care model that delivers the government's three shifts. It argues that this must always start with communities, empowering them to be active agents...

Karol Kuczera and Max Marulli De Barletta reflect on their visit to Google’s Accessibility Discovery Centre and how inclusive technology can enable more equitable access to health, education and broader social participation. In today’s NHS, digital tools are central to how we deliver care, share information, and empower people to manage their health. But for those facing barriers to access – whether through disability, language or low digital confidence – these tools can just as easily widen inequalities as reduce them.

Karol Kuczera and Max Marulli De Barletta reflect on their visit to Google’s Accessibility Discovery Centre and how inclusive technology can enable more equitable access to health, education and broader social participation. In today’s NHS, digital tools are central to how we deliver care, share information, and empower people to manage their health. But for those facing barriers to access – whether through disability, language or low digital confidence – these tools can just as easily widen inequalities as reduce them.

An automation system called 'Ada' is improving efficiency in paediatric referrals at Cambridge Community Services NHS Trust.  ( 12 min )

Today's coffee briefing covers 13 new DEXA scanners for NHS trusts and a new financial milestone for health tech firm Cera.  ( 13 min )

The Public Accounts Committee has said “lessons can be learned” from DHSC’s efforts to improve cyber resilience in public services.  ( 13 min )

Greater Manchester is piloting technology which helps GPs identify adults who are at risk of falling, so that they can receive early support.  ( 13 min )

A “health financing emergency” must drive country-led, data-driven solutions Ministers from multiple countries hit by the abrupt cuts in external funding for health agreed on the urgent need for country-owned and implemented strategies – and a laser-sharp focus on health data – at a ministerial dialogue co-hosted by WHO and the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation at the Seventy-eighth World Health Assembly. Opening remarks by Professor Senait Fisseha, Vice President of Global Programs at the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, and Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General, set the tone by noting that the crisis presents an opportunity for a turnaround in how health financing policies and health data systems are built and operated. Specifically, this is a time for countries to re…  ( 9 min )

Sets out medicines that cannot be exported from the UK or hoarded because they are needed for UK patients.  ( 12 min )

Procedures for approval of independent sector providers of treatment for termination of pregnancy.  ( 3 min )

Antimicrobial resistance alerts (ARAs) inform microbiologists of emerging antimicrobial-resistant micro-organisms that could spread in the UK health service.  ( 4 min )

The UK's National Statement for the WHO's World Health Assembly. Delivered by the UK's Permanent Representative to the WTO and UN, Simon Manley.  ( 5 min )

Incoming CEO of Londonwide LMCs Dr Lisa Harrod-Rothwell on the necessity of the Government prioritising general practice in the NHS When I joined Londonwide LMCs in 2016, general practice was already in crisis. Nine years on, the situation has deteriorated. Successive governments have made and broken promises, leaving GPs and their patients in a constant The post ‘General practice is not peripheral to the NHS – it’s fundamental’ appeared first on Pulse Today.  ( 5 min )

Roll out of weight loss drugs in England could be dramatically sped up to millions of working age adults by making use of existing private providers and a ‘digital first’ approach, a report from the Tony Blair Institute has concluded. The analysis said faster roll out through more innovative models of providing anti-obesity medications such The post Involve private providers in weight loss jab rollout, urges think tank appeared first on Pulse Today.  ( 8 min )

A GP surgery has been vandalised twice in one week, with bricks thrown at ‘such force’ that they ‘shattered’ multiple windows.  Haven Health GP practice in Felixstowe, Suffolk, told patients last week that its windows were smashed on both Sunday night and again on Tuesday night. Suffolk Police told Pulse that a ‘piece of concrete’ The post GP surgery vandalised twice in one week appeared first on Pulse Today.  ( 8 min )

An ICB has decided to abandon controversial plans to make cuts at local GP out-of-hour and walk-in centre, following criticism from councillors and patients. Norfolk and Waveney ICB announced it is shelving plans to reduce the number of face-to-face out-of-hours (OOH) bases and close the Norwich walk-in centre, which were intended to address the £280m The post ICB abandons controversial plans to cut GP out-of-hours following criticism appeared first on Pulse Today.  ( 8 min )

Sexual health services across the UK will roll out a ‘world-first’ gonorrhoea vaccine programme to eligible patients from early August.  NHS England announced today that the existing vaccine for meningococcal B disease, 4CMenB, will be offered to gay and bisexual men who have a recent history of multiple sexual partners or a STI. According to The post UK to launch ‘world-first’ gonorrhoea vaccine programme appeared first on Pulse Today.  ( 7 min )

Just one in nine GPs and practice managers think the 2025/26 contract in England is a good deal for general practice, with most saying the uplift would not cancel out the impact of increased employer national insurance contributions, a GPonline poll has found.  ( 3 min )

More international medical graduate (IMG) GP registrars are considering leaving the UK after they complete their training following the government's announcement of plans to crackdown on immigration.  ( 3 min )

A 'world-first' vaccine programme for gonorrhoea will be launched in England from August.  ( 3 min )

A 'world-first' vaccine programme for gonorrhoea will be launched in England from August.  ( 3 min )

Jonathan Brotherton will open Summer Schools 2025 with a keynote packed with insights into delivering major digital implementations.  ( 12 min )

Cyngor Gwynedd and Betsi Cadwaladr Health Board has partnered with Lilli to deploy it’s AI home monitoring technology in Wales.  ( 12 min )

Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust is rolling out an electronic prescribing and medicines administration system (ePMA).  ( 12 min )

Severity: Medium Advisory addresses two critical vulnerabilities that could lead to arbitrary code execution and allow unauthorised access to internal VMware Cloud Foundation services Advisory addresses two critical vulnerabilities that could lead to arbitrary code execution and allow unauthorised access to internal VMware Cloud Foundation services Updated: 21 May 2025

Emma Swift and Zuzanna Lito explain how we've updated the NHS service standard to make sure teams building online services are more aware and responsive to the risks of domestic abuse and coercive control. The NHS service standard helps teams build and run digital services that meet users’ needs. It's designed to improve patients’ care and experience when engaging with the NHS online. The service standard has recently undergone some small but significant updates. The new updates are designed to make sure that teams building online services are more aware of and responsive to the risks of domestic abuse and coercive control.

Emma Swift and Zuzanna Lito explain how we've updated the NHS service standard to make sure teams building online services are more aware and responsive to the risks of domestic abuse and coercive control. The NHS service standard helps teams build and run digital services that meet users’ needs. It's designed to improve patients’ care and experience when engaging with the NHS online. The service standard has recently undergone some small but significant updates. The new updates are designed to make sure that teams building online services are more aware of and responsive to the risks of domestic abuse and coercive control.

Thousands of gonorrhoea cases could be prevented over the next decade thanks to the NHS’ world-first vaccination programme against the infection. Eligible patients, which includes gay and bisexual men who have a recent history of multiple sexual partners or a sexually transmitted infection (STI), will start to be offered the vaccine through local authority-commissioned sexual […]  ( 8 min )

World leaders pledged at least an additional US$ 210 million to the World Health Organization (WHO) at a high-level pledging event Tuesday at the Seventy-eighth World Health Assembly in Geneva. Amid rising global health challenges, leaders reaffirmed their support for multilateral cooperation through these contributions to WHO’s Investment Round (IR). Earlier in the day, Member States approved an increase in Assessed Contributions, adding a separate US$ 90 million a year of income, and marking another important step on WHO’s journey towards sustainable financing. The IR is raising funds for WHO’s strategy for global health, the  Fourteenth General Programme of Work, which can save an additional 40 million lives over the next four years. The pledges made today represent significant contribu…  ( 9 min )

World leaders pledged at least an additional US$ 170 million to the World Health Organization (WHO) at a high-level pledging event Tuesday at the Seventy-eighth World Health Assembly in Geneva. Amid rising global health challenges, leaders reaffirmed their support for multilateral cooperation through these contributions to WHO’s Investment Round (IR). Earlier in the day, Member States approved an increase in Assessed Contributions, adding a separate US$ 90 million a year of income, and marking another important step on WHO’s journey towards sustainable financing. The IR is raising funds for WHO’s strategy for global health, the  Fourteenth General Programme of Work, which can save an additional 40 million lives over the next four years. The pledges made today represent significant contribu…  ( 8 min )

World Health Assembly adopts historic Pandemic Agreement to make the world more equitable and safer from future pandemics Agreement’s adoption follows three years of intensive negotiation launched due to gaps and inequities identified in national and global COVID-19 response. Agreement boosts global collaboration to ensure stronger, more equitable response to future pandemics. Next steps include negotiations on Pathogen Access and Benefits Sharing system. Member States of the World Health Organization (WHO) today formally adopted by consensus the world's first Pandemic Agreement. The landmark decision by the Seventy-eighth World Health Assembly culminates more than three years of intensive negotiations launched by governments in response to the devastating impacts of the COVID-19 pandemi…  ( 9 min )

In a show of support for a sustainably financed World Health Organization, WHO Member States today approved a 20% increase in assessed contributions (membership dues) as they endorsed the Organization’s 2026–27 budget of US$ 4.2 billion. This is the second such 20% increase in assessed contributions to WHO, the previous being agreed as part of the 2024–25 budget. It comes as governments are facing financial constraints and economic headwinds and demonstrates Member States’ fundamental support for global health solidarity and the critical role of WHO. Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO Director-General, and other senior leaders thanked Member States for their support and partnership, noting their profound vote of confidence in WHO’s mission and their commitment to health security and r…  ( 7 min )

In recognition of their lifetime achievements in global health, specifically in malaria elimination and beyond, WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has given his Award for Global Health this year to Professor Awa Marie Coll Seck and Professor Sir Brian Greenwood.   The Director-General’s Award for Global Health, established in 2019, was conferred during the High-Level segment on Tuesday, 20 May, at the Seventy-eighth World Health Assembly and this year included an honorary lifetime achievement award to each recipient.   “Their invaluable contributions have helped to alleviate the burden of malaria and other vaccine-preventable diseases and to build sustainable health system capacity in Africa,” said Dr Tedros. Noting Professor Coll Seck’s achievements, Dr Tedros said, “While…  ( 9 min )

The World Health Organization (WHO) today welcomed the donation of a sculpture from the government of the Republic of Croatia in a ceremony held at WHO headquarters in Geneva.  ( 6 min )

Agreement’s adoption follows three years of intensive negotiation launched due to gaps and inequities identified in national and global COVID-19 response. Agreement boosts global collaboration to ensure stronger, more equitable response to future pandemics. Next steps include negotiations on Pathogen Access and Benefits Sharing system. Member States of the World Health Organization (WHO) today formally adopted by consensus the world's first Pandemic Agreement. The landmark decision by the 78th World Health Assembly culminates more than three years of intensive negotiations launched by governments in response to the devastating impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, and driven by the goal of making the world safer from – and more equitable in response to – future pandemics. “The world is safer …  ( 10 min )

Pulse investigates the media coverage of an alleged antisemitism incident at last year’s BMA annual conference to see what actually happened behind the scenes Last summer, there was a lot of coverage around antisemitism at the BMA’s annual representatives meeting (ARM). This culminated when a doctor was heckled by two other doctors with cries of The post What really happened when the BMA was accused of antisemitism appeared first on Pulse Today.  ( 5 min )

Up 1,000 GP registrars could face unemployment when qualifying this summer, the BMA has warned Wes Streeting, whilst calling for ringfenced funding. In a letter to the health secretary today, GP leaders demanded ‘ringfenced’ funding to be given directly to practices in order to hire newly-qualified and under- or unemployed GPs. Chairs of the GP The post Up to 1,000 GP registrars face unemployment this summer, BMA warns Streeting appeared first on Pulse Today.  ( 8 min )

Around 40% of GP partners say their PCN is considering replacing non-GP Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme (ARRS) staff with GPs, a Pulse survey has revealed. As part of changes to the GP contract for 2025/26, the Government combined the ARRS funding for GPs, which was previously ringfenced, with the pot for all other roles, meaning The post PCNs are replacing non-GP ARRS staff with GPs, Pulse survey reveals appeared first on Pulse Today.  ( 9 min )

The BMA has warned MPs against introducing a requirement for GPs to automatically report every case of underage sexual activity, as this would ‘damage’ doctors’ relationships with patients. The union and its GP committee have raised ‘significant’ concerns about the impact on confidentiality of the Crime and Policing Bill, which would introduce a mandatory duty The post GPs reporting all cases of underage sexual activity will ‘damage’ trust, BMA warns appeared first on Pulse Today.  ( 8 min )

Talking therapies led by GPs could reduce post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms in patients with critical illnesses, researchers have reported. A trial of 319 adults conducted at GP practices across Germany found that critically ill patients’ PTSD symptoms were eased following structured GP intervention. The results, published in the BMJ, suggested that structured GP consultations The post GP-led talking therapies could reduce PTSD symptoms in critically ill patients appeared first on Pulse Today.  ( 5 min )

The Health Foundation - This briefing compares trends in mortality within the UK and with 21 high-income countries, based on new research by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. The findings are stark, underlining deep inequalities in health between different parts of the UK and a worrying decline in UK health compared with international peers. The briefing concludes...

Local Government Association - To mark ten years of children's public health being back within in local government the Local Government Association have commissioned a series of interviews with thought leaders from across the sector on their thoughts on the impact made and what more can be done to support children. Read the interviews View the timeline

Care Quality Commission (CQC) - This is a report on the experiences of individuals with dementia interacting with health and social care services in England, and how these services are responding. The CQC will use the findings in this report, alongside working closely with people with lived experience, charities and support organisations and wide-ranging stakeholders with dementia expertise to develop...

Better protections for British public and NHS thanks to deal adopted at the World Health Assembly in Geneva.  ( 9 min )

The Department of Health and Social Care's approach to preventing and detecting fraud, bribery and corruption.  ( 3 min )

Information for academic authorities and students on pre-registration healthcare programmes in the 2025 to 2026 academic year.  ( 3 min )

Powys Teaching Health Board in Wales has selected Better to deliver an electronic prescribing and medicines administration (ePMA) system.  ( 12 min )

Today's Coffee Time Briefing covers Harrogate's new Healthcare Innovation Hub and Navigate Health's acquisition of Patient.info.  ( 13 min )

Midlands Partnership University NHS FT and Shropshire Community Health NHS Trust have gone live with the Access Intelligent Care Platform.  ( 12 min )

A groupwide electronic patient record (EPR) system has gone live across St George’s, Epsom and St Helier Hospitals.  ( 12 min )

Up to 1,000 newly-qualified GPs could be left unemployed this summer unless emergency funding is given directly to general practices to hire more doctors, the BMA has warned Wes Streeting.  ( 3 min )

Three in five GPs say swingeing cuts to ICB budgets will make it harder to develop neighbourhood NHS models, polling reveals.  ( 3 min )

World Health Organization Member States, meeting today in Committee A of the World Health Assembly, approved a resolution that calls for the adoption of an historic global compact to make the world safer from future pandemics. The WHO Pandemic Agreement will next be considered for final adoption by the Assembly on Tuesday during the plenary session. Monday’s approval of the Pandemic Agreement resolution follows a more than three-year process, launched by governments during the COVID-19 pandemic, to negotiate the world’s first such accord to address the gaps and inequities in preventing, preparing for and responding to pandemics. This watershed agreement was adopted under Article 19 of the WHO Constitution. It aims to foster stronger collaboration and cooperation among countries, internatio…  ( 11 min )

In a landmark public health achievement, Papua New Guinea (PNG) has been validated by the World Health Organization (WHO) for eliminating trachoma as a public health problem. Trachoma, a neglected tropical disease (NTD) and the world’s leading infectious cause of blindness, no longer poses a public health threat in the country. "I congratulate the government and people of Papua New Guinea on this incredible achievement, said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus," WHO Director-General. "This success demonstrates what can be achieved when science and sustained partnerships come together to serve the health and dignity of communities." Official recognition was made during the 78th World Health Assembly held in Geneva, Switzerland, following a comprehensive review of PNG's elimination dossier. Tracho…  ( 8 min )

The World Health Organization (WHO) has recognized four countries – the Republic of Austria, the Kingdom of Norway, the Sultanate of Oman and the Republic of Singapore – for their exemplary efforts in eliminating industrially produced trans fats from their food supplies. These countries have implemented best-practice policies alongside effective monitoring and enforcement mechanisms to promote public health. The WHO validation certificates were officially presented by WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus during the Seventy-eighth World Health Assembly. “Eliminating industrially produced trans fats is one of the most cost-effective strategies to reduce the global burden of cardiovascular diseases. Trans fats are a major contributor to preventable deaths each year, particularly…  ( 10 min )

The World Health Organization (WHO) has validated Mauritania as having eliminated trachoma as a public health problem, making it the seventh country in WHO’s African Region to achieve this significant milestone. The validation certificate was received by Honorable Abdallahi Sidi Mohamed Wedih, Minister of Health and Aïcha Vall Vergès, Ambassador of Mauritania to Switzerland at the Seventy-eighth World Health Assembly.  ( 10 min )

Philanthropic support plays a vital role in enabling countries to build stronger health systems and advance towards health equity. From vaccine equity and pandemic preparedness to primary health care, the contributions of philanthropic partners help drive progress across WHO’s key priorities. The importance of philanthropic support was underscored by Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General, in his recent remarks to the Philanthropy Asia Summit, held in Singapore on 5–7 May 2025. In his remarks, he expressed his appreciation to the Temasek Foundation and the Philanthropy Asia Alliance for organizing the Summit while highlighting the importance of philanthropy in strengthening global health, supporting country self-reliance, and partnering with WHO to address health challenges in…  ( 7 min )

Royal College of Nursing - Internationally educated nursing staff have been making a critical contribution to UK health and care systems for the better part of a century but continue to face challenges every step of the way to becoming a nurse in the UK. This report explores those challenges using research findings of an RCN survey of over 3,000...

Partnership for Change - Partnership for Change is a collaboration of ten leading patient groups brought together and funded by Pfizer. Across each of the ten patient groups, there has been feedback from patients whose frustrations have been borne out of poorly coordinated care, with patients frequently needing to retell their stories, chase up referrals, and advocate for themselves in...

NHS Providers - This briefing summarises the findings from a series of interviews with trust leaders where they described the barriers and enablers to improvement in maternity services, with a particular focus on health inequalities. Drawing on these conversations, and NHS Providers’ longer-term work in this area, it sets out a number of calls to action. These look across improving...

Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) - This analysis, following individuals born in a single week in 1970 throughout their lives, finds that mental health problems at age 10 have significant implications 40 years on. Children with severe mental and behavioural problems are 85 per cent more likely to have symptoms of depression at age 51 and 68 per cent...

Reflecting on a visit to Australia to see an old friend, Dr Katie Musgrave laments working conditions in UK general practice and wonders why she is still here If I have written about this once, I have written about it a thousand times. But until things improve, I simply can’t move on… The working conditions The post Australian GPs have it so good – remind me why I’m still here? appeared first on Pulse Today.  ( 5 min )

Northern Ireland’s health minister has imposed the GMS contract for 2025/26 on GP practices for the first time, after the offer was rejected by the BMA last week. Speaking in the Northern Ireland Assembly today, Mike Nesbitt said he has ‘taken the decision to go ahead and implement the contract on offer’ which includes £9.5m The post GP contract imposed by health minister for the first time in Northern Ireland appeared first on Pulse Today.  ( 8 min )

GPs could be liable for ‘abnormal or erroneous’ information entered by a third party into patient records following this year’s contract changes, the BMA has warned. The union has raised GP liability concerns about third-party information being entered into the patient record once enabling the GP Connect Update Record function becomes mandatory in October. As The post GPs could be liable for third-party errors in patient records, BMA warns appeared first on Pulse Today.  ( 9 min )

NHS England has asked GP practices to help identify undiagnosed patients affected by the contaminated blood scandal. From next month, GP practices will ask new patients registering with them if they had a blood transfusion before 1996, with those who did then being offered a test for Hepatitis C. The commissioner has issued new guidance The post GP practices asked to identify undiagnosed infected blood scandal patients appeared first on Pulse Today.  ( 8 min )

The Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Foundation Trust has rolled out an electronic patient record system from System C.  ( 13 min )

Global healthcare AI firm Huma Therapeutics has partnered with Eckuity Capital and acquired remote monitoring company Aluna.  ( 12 min )

Serious concern has been raised by the Welsh government about the ability of Digital Health and Care Wales to deliver major programmes.  ( 12 min )

Suppliers have quizzed NHS England about the relationship between the proposed single patient record and the federated data platform (FDP).  ( 12 min )

GP leaders in Northern Ireland have said they are 'shocked and angry' after the Department of Health confirmed it would impose the 2025/26 GMS contract on the profession.  ( 3 min )

The BMA has raised 'serious concerns' about government proposals that could require doctors to report every case of underage sexual activity where one partner is aged over 18.  ( 3 min )

The BMA has raised 'serious concerns' about government proposals that could require doctors to report every case of underage sexual activity where one partner is aged over 18.  ( 3 min )

From next month, patients registering at a new GP practice will be asked if they had a blood transfusion before 1996 as part of a drive to identify undiagnosed people affected by the contaminated blood scandal.  ( 3 min )

Severity: Medium Mozilla releases security updates addressing two critical vulnerabilities that could lead to an out-of-bounds read or write on a JavaScript object Mozilla releases security updates addressing two critical vulnerabilities that could lead to an out-of-bounds read or write on a JavaScript object Updated: 19 May 2025

Professor Matt Sydes, Head of Data-Driven Clinical Trials at NHS England, describes how his personal and professional lives collided when a family member was affected by a rare cancer. As a statistician and a trialist, I've been involved with researching many different diseases and conditions over the years. I’ve planned and run studies, analysed data, and interpreted and disseminated findings from clinical trials to support the development of new treatments and interventions, all to help doctors and patients make the best healthcare decisions that improve and extend lives.

Professor Matt Sydes, Head of Data-Driven Clinical Trials at NHS England, describes how his personal and professional lives collided when a family member was affected by a rare cancer. As a statistician and a trialist, I've been involved with researching many different diseases and conditions over the years. I’ve planned and run studies, analysed data, and interpreted and disseminated findings from clinical trials to support the development of new treatments and interventions, all to help doctors and patients make the best healthcare decisions that improve and extend lives.

All new patients registering at GP practices are to be asked if they had a blood transfusion before 1996, as part of an NHS drive to find undiagnosed patients affected by the contaminated blood scandal. Each year, around 400,000 people born before 1996 – around half of new sign-ups online – will now be asked […]  ( 5 min )

Pulse’s Eliza Parr breaks down the GMC’s defence arguments in a high-profile legal case over its refusal to set an official scope of practice for physician associates. The case for ‘clear’ guidance on what PAs can and cannot do The High Court case against the GMC began on Wednesday morning this week, at the Royal The post The GMC’s legal argument for not setting a scope of practice for physician associates appeared first on Pulse Today.  ( 5 min )

Community nurses have reported feeling ‘obliged’ to take on an extended role within palliative care to cover work formerly done by GPs, but without additional pay, consultation or acknowledgement, according to a new study. Research published in the British Journal of General Practice (BJGP) suggested that an increase in GP remote working and ‘workforce diversification’ The post Community nurses call for more ‘GP back-up’ in palliative care decisions appeared first on Pulse Today.  ( 8 min )

The BMA will survey GPs this summer on their priorities for a new wholesale GMS contract, its GP committee chair has revealed. Dr Katie Bramall-Stainer told LMC representatives at their national conference in Glasgow last week that the union is planning to ‘go out to the profession’ via a survey to gather views on what The post GPs to be given say on their priorities for wholesale new GMS contract appeared first on Pulse Today.  ( 7 min )

The BMA and RCGP are among 14 health and social care organisations who have joined forces to call on the Government to outlaw physical punishment of children. An open letter, also signed by the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health and Royal College of Psychiatrists, asks the Government to back a critical amendment to The post BMA and RCGP call on Government to outlaw physical punishment of children appeared first on Pulse Today.  ( 8 min )

Easy read of the final findings and recommendations of the review into the operational effectiveness of the Care Quality Commission.  ( 3 min )

Dentists in England encouraged to take part to inform government plans to improve NHS dentistry  ( 5 min )

Severity: Medium CVE-2025-30712 could allow an attacker to escape the virtual machine and gain unauthorised access to Oracle VM VirtualBox accessible data CVE-2025-30712 could allow an attacker to escape the virtual machine and gain unauthorised access to Oracle VM VirtualBox accessible data Updated: 16 May 2025

Suppliers to the NHS have been urged by NHSE and the DHSC in an open letter to sign a charter of cyber security best practice.  ( 13 min )

This episode of Digital Health Unplugged delves into Optum’s acquisition of EMIS and what it means for the NHS and health technology sector.  ( 10 min )

University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (UCLH) has integrated intra-oral scanners into its Epic electronic health record.  ( 13 min )

Two GPs are standing in the election to take over as RCGP chair, with voting set to open in late June.  ( 3 min )

A pilot scheme that makes use of new technology to analyse GP records to help identify older patients most at risk of falls has been launched in a PCN in Greater Manchester.  ( 3 min )

General practice has been ‘systematically neglected’ and is at risk of becoming a service delivered by a ‘less efficient’ skill-mix model in ‘over-industrialised mega-practices or private providers’, RCGP Scotland has warned.  ( 3 min )

The GPonline team discusses the key news stories affecting general practice.  ( 3 min )

The Health Foundation - This analysis projects the costs of meeting growing demand for adult social care in England and making some improvements to people’s care up to 2034/35. It estimates the additional funding needed for social care under three scenarios: to meet growing demand for social care and cover rising costs to employers; to meet demand, cover rising costs...

NHS England - This framework sets out five key principles to reduce patient safety health care inequalities across the NHS. It outlines opportunities that local teams and integrated care boards can implement, as well as the work NHS England is taking nationally to support and enable this. These principles align with the aims of NHS England’s Patient safety strategy and...

Rochelle Gold, Head of User Research at NHS Digital, describes how our user-centred design (UCD) maturity model helps teams to achieve outcomes and manage risk.  Everyone that works in the NHS, whatever their role, is working towards one common goal – to provide the best care to patients and keep people well. User-centred design enables us to deliver on that intent and our maturity model supports teams to develop their user-centred design capability.

Kate Every, Service Designer for the NHS Test and Trace programme, looks at how using data and research helped the team meet the challenge of ensuring anyone within the UK population could carry out a lateral flow test for COVID-19. COVID-19 has impacted every one of us. Our challenge was to build and iterate a nationwide testing service that had to work for people from all walks of life, who were testing for very different reasons.

Rich Kelly from the NHS website’s multimedia team explains how they provide video that is accessible, relatable and sometimes life-saving for their audiences. The NHS is available to all so it's really crucial that the content on the NHS website must be available to all. It is the UK’s biggest health website with more than 50 million visits every month and the NHS videos on the website and You Tube Channel  attracted over 28 million views in 2020. This indicates just how vital the video content is to our audience who need to absorb important information quickly and easily.

Rhiannon Smith, Content Designer for NHS.UK, explains how the NHS website team are making content about skin symptoms more inclusive. NHS Digital design principles say: “Be inclusive: NHS services are for everyone. Make sure people with different physical, mental health, social, cultural or learning needs can use your design.” However, on the NHS website, skin symptoms are mostly described in terms of how they appear on white skin. There are very few examples of what skin problems and conditions look like on various skin tones.

Caroline Finucane, who leads the content team for the COVID-19 testing service, shares some principles that will be useful for anyone working on a fast-paced, complex government project. Over the last 16 months of managing the digital content for the COVID-19 testing programme I have learnt much about how complex, high-priority UK-wide projects are run. I’m sharing what I’ve taken away as these principles will be helpful for anyone working on a UK-wide government digital service, even if COVID-19 has brought unprecedented challenges.

Tero Väänänen, Head of Design at NHS Digital, talks about how important it is to design your organisation before you start designing services. The demand for service designers has grown rapidly in recent years, while the understanding of what service design is, has not. For many organisations, service design is simply ‘user experience’ with a new name. Service design, and user-centred design, are mutually supportive ways of working to approach problems, to achieve the best possible outcomes. For effective service design, organisations must understand the conditions required and be prepared to make changes.

NHS Digital’s Head of User Research, Rochelle Gold, asks the question – is it time to drop the ‘user’ from user research? As the Head of User Research, I often have conversations with people about what role user research plays in delivering great services. They can have very different levels of understanding of user research. Some really understand it, others have heard of it but don’t know what it is and some people have never  heard of it and make incorrect assumptions.

Matthew Lund, who heads up the User Research team that works across the online COVID-19 Testing service, talks about the challenges of ensuring the needs of users remain at the forefront of a vital, fast-moving and high-profile programme. The COVID-19 testing programme is by far the biggest research project I’ve ever worked on – and probably ever will.

Simon Davis, a senior user researcher who works across our screening programmes, explains how important it is to get stakeholders involved in designing services that truly meet peoples’ needs. As part of the Digital Transformation of Screening Programme we are currently replacing outdated systems to help ensure breast and cervical screening services run as smoothly as possible.

Brie Whyatt, Interaction Design Graduate, explains how the NHS App team improved the appointment booking process in the app by creating user stories, using the NHS digital service manual and doing usability tests to help patients and GP surgeries during this exceptionally challenging winter. Many GP surgeries across the country offer patients the ability to book their appointments in the NHS App. Online appointment booking enables patients to access primary care digitally, which eases pressure on GP surgery staff, who are facing the extreme clinical challenges of the coronavirus pandemic during the already difficult winter months.

Matt Edgar, Victoria Betton and Simon Dixon introduce a new industry working group set up to bring the NHS and tech sector together to advance the cause of user-centred design in health and care. Right across the NHS and the tech sector there’s a growing movement of people with a passion for understanding patient and clinicians needs, and involving them in the design of services.

Adriano Gazza, Multimedia team lead for the NHS website, explains how the principles of user-centred design can help create engaging video, animation and infographic content for the public that is clinically accurate. It was only when I came to NHS Digital that I was exposed to the concept of user-centred design. One of the frequent challenges in my previous creative roles was explaining why we needed to bear in mind specific considerations for the audience that a commissioner had not always recognised. Often, clients submitted a request for a video without a strategic purpose. We would rely on brand guidelines where they existed, but this still didn’t answer the central question of why we should create things a certain way. This all started to change when I began to learn the principles of user-centred design.

As we enter another national coronavirus lockdown, Mitchell Wakefield, one of our user researchers for NHS login, reflects on what he learned doing remote research with blind and low-vision users during the first lockdown and shares his tips on how to get it right. Going fully remote since the outbreak of coronavirus (COVID-19) has been a challenging transition for many technology-focused research teams, and it certainly has been no exception for the user research community at NHS Digital. But with unforeseen challenges come opportunities to adapt and seek different methods and techniques.

How do you enable researchers to do their best work? Claire Holt, founder of the research operations team at NHS Digital, shares her experience of building a successful service that has now broadened its remit to supporting the whole user-centred design team.   When we set up the research operations function in spring 2020, we were given a clear mandate to alleviate pressure from the NHS Digital user research community and enable them to do their best work at a critical time for the health system and the country.

Caroline Finucane, Lead Content Manager in the COVID-19 testing programme, explains her team’s challenges when ensuring only eligible users could order a free COVID-19 test. At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, free coronavirus tests were only for key workers so they could continue their critical work. But eligibility for tests would soon change as infection rates started to spike. We were ready for the first surge, which came in October 2020. The government swiftly kickstarted the expansion of testing with rapid lateral flow tests. We wanted everyone to ‘Get a free NHS COVID-19 test’.

Tero Väänänen, Head of Design at NHS Digital, explains why we must shift our focus from outputs to outcomes so the public can truly get what it needs from the NHS. Recently, my wife and I tested positive for COVID-19. My wife, being asthmatic, was concerned whether she had enough of her medication to last for the (then) 10-day isolation, and ordered a new repeat prescription using the NHS App. Her nominated pharmacy let her know her medication was ready for collection, but when we explained we were self-isolating and unable to pick it up, they could not offer a delivery.

Kerrie Hughes, Lead Service Designer for the new ‘Register with a GP Surgery’ service, says registration is more than just paperwork – it’s about giving more people access to healthcare and helping GP practices to provide great care. Good services don’t happen by accident. They are the result of a deep understanding of the people that will use the service. They are carefully crafted to help those people do what they want to do.

Sara Wilcox, senior content designer and Joe Freeman, social and digital media lead, both with NHS.UK, introduce the new ‘Standard for creating health content’ and explain work with partners, including YouTube, to put it into practice. When content is clear, accurate, evidence-based, up to date and easy to use, it helps people self care or know when and where to get the help and care they need. Good content can save lives.

How do you tackle a big design challenge in a short span of time? Samantha Saw, Senior Service Designer, and Simon Davis, Senior User Researcher, explain how their team went from a handful of high-level ideas to a clickable prototype for the breast screening programme in just 10 days. Each year, millions of screening appointments are attended across England and thousands of lives are estimated to be saved thanks to early detection and treatment.

Everyone should be able to register with a GP surgery. Senior User Researcher Tamara Farrar worked with seldom heard groups to ensure their needs were considered when designing a new registration service. Anyone in England can register with a GP surgery. It’s free. You do not need proof of address. You do not need to give details of your immigration status and it’s not necessary to have an NHS number to hand.

The team developing the COVID-19 vaccine booking service changed questions about gender to improve the service for transgender and non-binary people, says Senior Content Designer Laura Hajba. As we developed the COVID-19 national booking service in Autumn 2020, we became aware that a question that asked users for their gender might be a barrier for some people wanting to book a vaccine.

Tosin Balogun, Associate Interaction Designer for the NHS website, looks at how we design and how we try to make a difference. It is pretty obvious to say that design changes people’s lives. If it didn’t, we wouldn’t spend so much of our time trying to get it right. But the reality beneath that unoriginal claim struck home for me recently as I worked on a report tool, part of the replacement system for national cervical screening. It’s not the most dramatic or heart-rending example of our impact – but is perhaps no less meaningful for that. It’s a small piece of work that speaks to the everyday reality we try to grapple with as interaction designers in the NHS.

It was born 8 years before the iPhone and a year before Google got into the advertising business, but Tero Väänänen says 'BS EN ISO 9241-210' remains a guiding star for human-centred design. If you’re looking for a best-practice standard on how best solve problems and deliver outcomes to your users, you could do worse than follow the now more than 20-year-old international standard for ‘human-centred design for interactive systems’, BS EN ISO 9241-210:2019.

Tero Väänänen, Head of Design at NHS Digital, considers the Cheshire Cat’s wise words to Alice and explains why it is important to define the problems we are addressing before trying to solve them. “Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?” “That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,” said the Cat. “I don’t much care where–” said Alice. “Then it doesn’t matter which way you go,” said the Cat. “–so long as I get SOMEWHERE,” Alice added as an explanation. “Oh, you’re sure to do that,” said the Cat, “if you only walk long enough.”                                                                                        -'Alice in Wonderland' by Lewis Carroll

Samuel Martin and Ellen Doyle have been leading the development of principles to help teams at NHS England design more inclusively.  ‘Inclusive design’ and 'accessibility' are often used interchangeably, but they are different things.

User researcher Fern Williams describes how we created a new paper patient registration form to complement the online ‘Register with a GP surgery’ service, allowing everyone to have a consistent user experience and leaving no one digitally excluded. One of the guiding principles of the ‘Register with a GP surgery’ service is to be accessible and inclusive to all. Though there is a shift towards digital to make registering with a GP surgery easier and more convenient for both patients and practice staff, we haven’t forgotten the importance of developing a paper registration form for those who prefer not to or can’t use a digital service.

Senior content designer Jessamine Marie explains how her team used user-centred design principles to put people at the heart of redesigning our Data Access Request Service. Clinicians, researchers and commissioners can apply to access healthcare data through the Data Access Request Service (DARS). The main objective of any DARS service user is to request data quickly and easily.

Josh Healey, User-Centred Design Lead for the Register with a GP surgery service, explains how redesigning the first page of the service made it more accessible for everyone – and how they created a framework to measure impact. General practitioners (GPs) play an important role in our communities. GPs treat common medical conditions, refer patients to hospitals and act as the first place many go to for health and wellbeing advice. This is why it is so important that everyone can register with and see a GP when they need to.

Paul Pod, Interaction Designer in the NHS 111 online team, explains how they have improved information about meningitis symptoms by adding multimedia content to triage questions. When people use NHS 111 online, they usually have an urgent medical problem and they want to know what to do and where to go to get it sorted as quickly as possible. As designers, we spend all our time developing our understanding of users and thinking about how to make our service as accessible as possible.

Tero Väänänen, Head of Design in NHS England’s Transformation directorate, explains the new NHS digital design principle focused on sustainability. The NHS has set an ambitious goal of achieving ‘net zero‘ carbon emissions by 2040 for the emissions we control directly. This is not only for environmental reasons. As the Greener NHS programme clearly states, climate change is a health risk as well as an environmental risk.

How do you make sure all content is user-centred, accessible, safe and accurate when your product is one of the largest and most used health websites in the world? Mark Robinson, Senior Content Designer, explains our approach. Things have changed a lot since the NHS website first launched in 2007. The way we consume content has changed considerably, with new technologies like smartphones, apps and smart assistants.

David Evans, content designer for the Register with a GP surgery service, says it’s difficult to get accurate answers about people’s smoking and alcohol consumption – and explains what the team is doing to improve the way people assess their intake. The Register with a GP surgery service asks patients a variety of questions about themselves as part of the standard registration process, giving practice staff valuable health information from day 1. To enable better care, users are asked lifestyle questions, including those relating to their alcohol intake and smoking habits.

Chiara Garattini and Kate Burn explain how working in our Data and Analytics sub-directorate has challenged the assumptions of our user-centred design team. A big part of early work on projects typically involves helping our colleagues to focus a bit less on the characteristics of their products and the requirements of their internal processes, and to instead start by involving users to understand their needs. Therefore, it's been interesting to work on projects that required our team to get deep into the weeds of the process in order to, ultimately, put the focus back on users.

The Seventy-eighth session of the World Health Assembly (WHA78) will convene from 19 to 27 May 2025 in Geneva, Switzerland, under the theme “One World for Health”.  The Health Assembly will bring together high-level country representatives and other stakeholders to address health challenges. This year’s gathering comes at a pivotal moment for global health, as Member States confront emerging threats and major shifts in the landscape for global health and international development. This year’s theme underscores WHO’s enduring commitment to solidarity and equity, highlighting that even in unprecedented times, everyone, everywhere should have an equal chance to live a healthy life.   A defining moment: the Pandemic Agreement A highly anticipated moment of the WHA78 will be the consideration o…  ( 12 min )

Chiara Garattini and Kate Burn explain how working in our Data and Analytics sub-directorate has challenged the assumptions of our user-centred design team. A big part of early work on projects typically involves helping our colleagues to focus a bit less on the characteristics of their products and the requirements of their internal processes, and to instead start by involving users to understand their needs. Therefore, it's been interesting to work on projects that required our team to get deep into the weeds of the process in order to, ultimately, put the focus back on users.

This promotional module has been initiated, funded, and organised by AstraZeneca, and produced in collaboration with Cogora. For UK healthcare professionals only. Clinical pharmacist Niraj Lakhani discusses the current NICE recommendations for use of SGLT2 inhibitors and how use of the Dapagliflozin Patient Identification Resource (DAPA-id) can support GPs and other healthcare professionals in primary The post Sponsored CPD: Improving uptake of SGLT2 inhibitors in eligible patients: the Dapagliflozin Patient Identification Resource appeared first on Pulse Today.  ( 11 min )

Nirmatrelvir plus ritonavir is no longer recommended for some risk groups including the over-70s, NICE has said in updated guidance. The antiviral, also known as Paxlovid, is no longer cost effective in the over-70s as well as people with diabetes, obesity and heart failure, the new recommendations said. It follows a partial review in March The post Paxlovid eligibility withdrawn by NICE for over-70s, diabetes and obesity appeared first on Pulse Today.  ( 7 min )

Hepatologists Dr Ahmed Elsharkawy and Dr Laurence Hopkins discuss changes to the name, diagnosis and management of the condition MASLD, formerly known as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Read the full module on Pulse 365 today. Learning objectives This module will support your knowledge of MASLD diagnosis and management, in particular: 1. What does MASLD The post CPD: Key questions on metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) appeared first on Pulse Today.  ( 9 min )

With the assisted dying bill going to another vote this week, editor Sofia Lind reflects on the passing of her mother and the role GPs will need to play in this national conversation In October 2017, I watched my mother die in a way I wouldn’t wish on anyone. She had survived open heart surgery The post Facing death: the courage GPs may need on assisted dying appeared first on Pulse Today.  ( 8 min )

The BMA has raised serious concerns about the ‘dilution’ of GP training quality via new methods where more learning takes place online.  At the UK LMCs conference last week, the GP registrars committee warned of the rollout of a new training approach where a ‘significant portion of what was direct patient contact time is now The post BMA raises concern about GP trainees spending less time with patients appeared first on Pulse Today.  ( 5 min )

Councils and acute trusts in London could provide extra support to struggling GP practices in order to avoid the risk of new neighbourhood teams failing. In a new ‘target operating model’ published by NHS England this week, London’s ICB chiefs and local authorities have set out a plan for the future of a neighbourhood health The post Neighbourhood teams could see hospitals bolster struggling GP practices appeared first on Pulse Today.  ( 8 min )

Medicated weight-loss treatments have soared over recent months, reaching an estimated 1.5 million users in the UK in March 2025, according to data shared by IQVIA. The UK weight management market has seen an average monthly volume growth of 24.6% since October 2024, Chris Pilsbury, senior director at market intelligence company IQVIA, revealed yesterday at The post Estimated 1.5m UK citizens used weight-loss jabs in March appeared first on Pulse Today.  ( 7 min )

Exclusive Just under one in four GPs would be prepared to be involved in assisted dying to its completion, a new Pulse survey has revealed. However, the results of a survey of 601 GPs showed that the profession remains divided on the issue, with 37% in support of the Assisted Dying Bill and 39% against, The post Exclusive: One in four GPs prepared to assist patients seeking assisted dying appeared first on Pulse Today.  ( 9 min )

Business analyst Matthew Firth talks about the expansion of NHS Digital’s application programming interface (API) and integration catalogue which, for the first time, will now include external APIs.   Historically, we have only represented NHS Digital APIs in our API and integration catalogue. The reason is that the Developer hub was set up as a space where API consumers can learn about the NHS Digital onboarding journey and identify the APIs which they’d like to onboard with. It made sense to only represent our NHS Digital APIs in there and aimed to avoid confusion or dilute our onboarding journey for external suppliers and partners.

Alex Lord, Lead Product Owner for the Digital Onboarding Service at NHS Digital, explains why we are investing in digitalising the onboarding journey for developers of healthcare software.  If there is anything that many leave until it is too late, it is thinking about getting approval to use NHS APIs and digital services in production. We often call this onboarding.

Making it easier to get help and support is a guiding principle for our API Management (APIM) team. Ernest Kissiedu, a business analyst in the team, explains the new approach to supporting software developers working in health and care. Ensuring that the API platform is as self-serve as possible, with simple and reliable support provided when needed, is top of the list for our team. If our developers have a positive experience, they are more likely to use our APIs to develop cost-effective, digital services designed around the needs of our health and care professionals, patients, and the public.

Bharat Sharma, Senior Product Manager in the Standards and Interoperability team at NHS England, explains what they are doing to improve access to standards across the NHS. It’s a bit like the old philosophical question ‘If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?’: If a standard is published but people don’t know about it, is it a standard?

Throughout the coronavirus pandemic, the home testing service enabled millions to order PCR tests and rapid lateral flow tests to their homes. Richard Taylforth, a Delivery Manager who worked on the service, explains how we did it. The home testing service played a critical role in the national pandemic response, enabling people to test themselves quickly and accurately.

Business analyst Matthew Firth gives an update on what NHS Digital has been doing to progress the API ‘sunsetting’ strategy to retire some of our APIs over the last year.  Last year we published our blog ‘What happens when we ‘sunset’ our APIs?’ in which Munish Jokhani explained how we actively deprecate (where we advise of our intention to retire the API while retaining all existing service levels) and retire our APIs, and the effect this had on developers. By working with our suppliers and engaging them early in the process, we found that we were able to agree and align the retirement dates so that we met our suppliers’ requirements.

Matthew Firth describes our best practice policies around APIs – and how the most important one is not about the technical aspects of the work. For the past 3 years, we have been on a mission to make integration easier within the NHS for people building healthcare technology.

Mark Burton, Lead Delivery Manager for the Spine Futures programme, explains why we’re accelerating the migration of Spine services into the cloud and why we need NHS organisations and healthcare suppliers to support the move. In the decade since the NHS Spine was launched, digital health and care services have become significantly larger, much more complex and more central to NHS provision. The Spine platform provides critical healthcare infrastructure and we must modernise to keep up with the demands being placed on it.

Thasmim Ali, Product Owner of our API Developer Community, talks about how we’ve improved support for teams integrating with our products and services – and outlines our next steps. The Developer Community  provides an open and transparent forum for members to share knowledge, learn, and collaborate on problems related to API management. We launched the community in alpha phase in November 2022, and we’ve seen membership grow to more than 450 users since then.

Most prescriptions are still paper-based in secondary care. Business analyst Andy Harrison describes the technical groundwork we’ve laid to allow these settings to go digital. The little green FP10 paper prescriptions have all but disappeared in primary care. 18 years ago, we launched the Electronic Prescription Service (EPS) and it has since become an indispensable tool for primary care teams. Nearly all GP practices use it and about 95% of primary care prescriptions are now sent electronically. Last year, that amounted to 1 billion items dispensed using the service. It’s a safer, faster and more convenient way to prescribe.

As we prepare to bring new products and suppliers into the GP IT market, Dan Wintercross discusses the Tech Innovation Framework.  The demand for primary care is increasing, with GP practices currently delivering more than 27 million appointments every month. It’s more important than ever to make sure they have the best digital tools to support them to do their job.

Clinical informatics manager Chris Day says full implementation of multi-factor authentication is critical to local organisations’ cyber security. Cyber security is about risk reduction and that can make it a difficult sell in the NHS. Hard-pressed boards often want to know how much something is going to save them, but the cost of not implementing cyber security measures can only be calculated when their network or system is compromised.

James Higgott, Lead Product Manager for the NHS website, talks about how his team is using a comprehensive roadmap to help them focus on outcomes, not outputs. We recently published an update to the roadmap for the NHS website (nhs.uk). This describes what we will (and won’t) do to meet user needs and organisational goals on the UK’s biggest health website. Previously, the roadmap we used internally was more like a Gantt chart than a true roadmap. Each item had a start and an end date and a description of the output, not the outcome. In March 2023, we made significant changes to how we created and presented the roadmap. This is how we did it.

Susie Day, Programme Director for the NHS App, looks at what’s changed since the app’s launch in January 2019 and how its services are evolving post-COVID. NHS 75 is an incredibly proud moment for me and, I hope, for all the people who work so hard across the NHS and its wider ecosystem to provide care for patients up and down the country. In the lead up to the NHS 75 celebrations, I have reflected on what has changed since NHS 70 and, particularly, about the evolution of the NHS App since its launch at the beginning of 2019.

Locum pharmacist Faraaz Hussain describes his experience of using the new National Care Records Service. I spend part of my week in a hospital setting and part as a locum in community pharmacies. The Summary Care Record application (SCRa) has always been an indispensable tool in this work, allowing quick and secure access to clinical information, but it can be tricky to access when moving between sites for locum clinicians like me. In December 2022, I was approached by the Summary Care Record application team at NHS England to test out the National Care Records Services (NCRS), the successor to the SCRa. This is some of what I have found out.

Dr Shanker Vijay, GP and Digital First Lead for London, explains why he is championing the national ‘Register with a GP surgery’ service and talks about improvements to the service. It should be quick and simple for a patient to register with a GP surgery, but often it isn’t. Having worked in many GP surgeries, I’ve seen both patients and practice staff struggle with the process, leading to a poor experience for all. This can vary from patients being daunted when faced with dated, confusing and lengthy paper registration forms to busy practice staff having to find the time to deal with new registrations amongst all their other tasks.

Thasmim Ali describes the changes we’ve made to our digital service catalogue to make it easier for our stakeholders to find out and understand what national digital services are available for NHS staff and organisations to use. NHS England provides more than 100 national digital services for the NHS. They’re listed in the service catalogue on the NHS England Digital website. However, after speaking with digital leaders across the system, our ‘Who Does What’ programme team identified two important problems.

Thasmim Ali describes the changes we’ve made to our digital service catalogue to make it easier for our stakeholders to find out and understand what national digital services are available for NHS staff and organisations to use. NHS England provides more than 100 national digital services for the NHS. They’re listed in the service catalogue on the NHS England Digital website. However, after speaking with digital leaders across the system, our ‘Who Does What’ programme team identified two important problems.

Digital health service Immedicare says it helped thousands of Liverpool care home residents avoid unnecessary hospital visits in 2024.  ( 12 min )

Our news roundup covers the relaunch of health.tech in Basel, Switzerland and North Bristol NHS Trust's new da Vinci Xi surgical robot.  ( 13 min )

The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust has rolled out an advanced radiotherapy planning system from RaySearch Laboratories.  ( 13 min )

Most of the public think that a single patient record (SPR) already exists, according to research by Understanding Patient Data.  ( 13 min )

The NHS delivered over 100,000 more treatments in March compared to the same month last year, with a quarter of a million fewer waiting longer than 18 weeks for care. New data published today also shows that NHS staff have carried out over 1.5 million treatments in just 1 month, and 3.6 million additional appointments […]  ( 6 min )

As we make this transition to the new leadership team, I want to express my sincere appreciation for the remarkable contributions of those colleagues who will be leaving their executive management positions on 16 June 2025. I am truly grateful to:  Dr Michael J. Ryan, Deputy Director-General and Executive Director for Health Emergencies, Preparedness, and Response.  Mike planned to leave over two years ago but stayed on at my request, and I am very thankful for that. His steady presence has been instrumental during our toughest times, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.  His dedication to emergency response has changed how we work, helping us face unprecedented challenges with compassion and effectiveness. I also appreciate his leadership during the prioritization process in these dif…  ( 7 min )

This document provides an overview of the World Health Organization's (WHO) latest statistics report for 2025.  ( 10 min )

Additional roles reimbursement scheme (ARRS) funding totalling £88m was unspent by PCNs in 2023/24, the government has revealed.  ( 3 min )

Annual funding uplifts that match inflation are the number one contract change backed by GPs and practice managers, polling shows.  ( 3 min )

NHS England - This framework is designed to support the NHS in securing the best senior leaders, with the right skills and experience, to deliver exceptional care and services for patients and their local communities. It applies to all integrated care boards and NHS provider trusts and seeks to strengthen the link between reward and performance outcomes, increase transparency and...

NHS leaders will face new performance-based pay system with bonuses for improved patient care and penalties for failing trust executives.  ( 8 min )

Our weekly round-up of key news stories for general practice.  ( 3 min )

GPs in Northern Ireland have overwhelmingly voted to reject the 2025/26 GMS contract offer - with 99% voting against the deal.  ( 3 min )

PCNs in London could be forced to re-align so they match new neighbourhood footprints, under plans for overhauling how the NHS in the capital works.  ( 3 min )

A legal case against the GMC arguing that the regulator has failed to properly distinguish between qualified doctors and physician associates (PAs) and anaesthetic associates (AAs) will begin in the High Court on Wednesday.  ( 3 min )

The Government has revealed that £88m of Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme (ARRS) funding went unspent by PCNs in 2023/24. This equates to around 6% of the total £1.41bn available to PCNs that year, and NHS England does not guarantee that this underspent money stays in general practice. NHS England told Pulse that where underspends occur The post GP networks underspent on ARRS by £88m, new data shows appeared first on Pulse Today.  ( 6 min )

In the latest in our series, GP and mental health lead Dr Peter Bagshaw debunks some common myths and explains some surprising facts about depression MYTHS Myth 1.  Antidepressants are more effective than talking therapies In fact, studies have shown no difference in effectiveness or drop-out rates between antidepressants and cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) for The post Myths and Facts: Depression appeared first on Pulse Today.  ( 10 min )

Northern Irish GPs have overwhelmingly rejected the Department of Health’s offer for the 2025/26 GMS contract, the BMA has revealed following a referendum of the profession. The union said that 99.6% of GPs (1,375) who took part in the referendum voted in favour of rejecting the £9.5m offer, which contained an additional £1m into core The post Nearly 100% of Northern Irish GPs vote to reject Government’s contract offer appeared first on Pulse Today.  ( 8 min )

Exclusive A GP has been threatened with removal from the medical performers list due to exclusively working for an ambulance trust. Newcastle GP Dr Phil Brown has been working for North East Ambulance Service since 2017, providing out-of-hours clinical advice via NHS 111 to the public, paramedics and nursing teams. Last month, he was notified by NHS England’s The post GP threatened with performers list removal due to only working for ambulance trust appeared first on Pulse Today.  ( 8 min )

The Government must share its plans for the abolition of NHS England within the next three months to curb ‘high levels of uncertainty’, a group of MPs has demanded. The House of Commons public accounts committee (PAC) said it is ‘essential’ that the Department of Health and Social Care formulate the plans ‘quickly’ and provide The post MPs criticise Government’s lack of a clear plan for NHS England’s abolition appeared first on Pulse Today.  ( 5 min )

A legal case against the GMC over its refusal to set an official scope of practice for physician associates will begin at the High Court today.  Anaesthetists United (AU) is the group bringing the judicial review, along with the parents of Emily Chesterton, a 30-year-old woman who died after seeing a PA in general practice The post High-profile court case over GMC physician associate scope begins appeared first on Pulse Today.  ( 7 min )

Severity: Medium The security advisories address two critical vulnerabilities, of which one is reported as exploited The security advisories address two critical vulnerabilities, of which one is reported as exploited Updated: 14 May 2025

Severity: Medium Scheduled updates for Microsoft products, including security updates for 72 vulnerabilities, of which five have been reported as being actively exploited. Scheduled updates for Microsoft products, including security updates for 72 vulnerabilities, of which five have been reported as being actively exploited. Updated: 14 May 2025

Severity: High Ivanti has addressed two exploited vulnerabilities that, when chained, could lead to unauthenticated remote code execution Ivanti has addressed two exploited vulnerabilities that, when chained, could lead to unauthenticated remote code execution Updated: 14 May 2025

Simon Davis explains how the NHS App team puts users at the heart of digital delivery design by considering accessibility needs at every stage of the user research process. As the lead user researcher for the NHS App, my role is to ensure users remain at the centre of everything we do. I work with a talented team of researchers across different departments, engaging with both the public and frontline NHS staff to understand their experiences with our services.

Simon Davis explains how the NHS App team puts users at the heart of digital delivery design by considering accessibility needs at every stage of the user research process. As the lead user researcher for the NHS App, my role is to ensure users remain at the centre of everything we do. I work with a talented team of researchers across different departments, engaging with both the public and frontline NHS staff to understand their experiences with our services.

Dr Jessica Morley and Dr Joe Zhang will speak at Summer Schools 2025 to support digital leaders embedding AI ethically in healthcare.  ( 12 min )

East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust has signed a 10-year contract with Nervecentre to implement its electronic patient record (EPR) system.  ( 12 min )

Exclusive: NHS England has confirmed that it no longer plans to publish a dedicated digital workforce plan which was promised in 2024.  ( 13 min )

The care workforce pathway outlines the knowledge, skills, values and behaviours people need to work in adult social care.  ( 4 min )

Information about the 8 groups of jobs in adult social care in England.  ( 5 min )

Wes Streeting spoke at the launch of the Centre for Policy Research for Men and Boys (CPRMB) on Tuesday 13 May  ( 12 min )

More people were seen faster for scans including endoscopies, ultrasounds, and MRIs  ( 6 min )

House of Commons Public Accounts Committee - Forthcoming staff cuts and NHS England’s abolition have caused great uncertainty for all involved with the health system. This report on the Department for Health and Social Care’s accounts 2023-24 underlines its concern at the impact this uncertainty may have on patients and staff. It also finds that £58.2bn has been set aside...

People addicted to ketamine may not seek help from their GP despite high levels of physical and psychological problems associated with their use of the drug, researchers have reported. A study of 274 people with ketamine use disorder found more than half had not sought any support or treatment. But the survey and interviews led The post Many people with ketamine addiction do not seek GP help despite high levels of need appeared first on Pulse Today.  ( 7 min )

In light of the Supreme Court ruling, Dr Kamilla Kamaruddin shares how her experience of being a transgender GP has changed over time I previously wrote about my experiences as both a transgender GP and a patient in 2017. At the time, I was commended by many health professionals and organisations for being brave enough The post Navigating the Supreme Court ruling as a transgender GP appeared first on Pulse Today.  ( 5 min )

The Government has committed to reforming GMC regulation within this Parliament after years of delays. Despite agreeing to the reform in 2018, the Government is yet to introduce legislative amendments which will enable ‘swifter’ and ‘less adversarial’ fitness-to-practise (FTP) investigations, as well as quash the GMC’s powers to appeal FTP decisions. The GMC welcomed the The post Government commits to reforming GMC after years of delays appeared first on Pulse Today.  ( 8 min )

Exclusive A quarter of GPs are ‘strongly supportive’ of the NHS introducing prostate cancer screening, but many highlight issues with current PSA testing, a Pulse survey has found. The survey of over 730 GPs across the UK suggested that overall, 60% of GPs are either fairly or strongly supportive of a central screening programme, while The post Quarter of GPs would strongly support NHS prostate cancer screening appeared first on Pulse Today.  ( 10 min )

Find out how DHSC processes special category and criminal offences personal data in line with GDPR requirements.  ( 3 min )

Information on telecare monitoring systems and personal alarms that can help you stay safe and independent at home.  ( 4 min )

Severity: Medium Security updates include multiple vulnerabilities that could lead to memory corruption or privilege escalation Security updates include multiple vulnerabilities that could lead to memory corruption or privilege escalation Updated: 13 May 2025

NHS England has launched a market engagement on a new framework for the supply of digital solutions for primary care.  ( 12 min )

Today's coffee briefing covers a new round of DSIT fellowships and the first real-time 3D "digital twin" of a hospital room in Denmark.  ( 13 min )

NHS England has awarded a 'tiger teams' contract worth £13.3 million to KPMG to support trusts unlikely to meet the March 2026 EPR target.  ( 12 min )

Clinical AI assistants will be made available to GP practices across the UK through a strategic partnership between TORTUS and X-on Health.  ( 12 min )

NHS Confederation - The paper explores the areas of collaboration, agreement and interoperability between the UK and European Union to ensure population health is protected and improved. Paper More detail

Health Services Safety Investigations Body (HSSIB) - In June 2023 the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care announced that HSSIB would undertake a series of investigations focused on Mental health inpatient settings. This overarching report brings together and explores cross-cutting patient safety risks across the individual investigations. Report More detail

NHS Providers - NHS England has shared the first version of the Model ICB Blueprint with integrated care board leaders. The document is intended to help ICBs produce plans by the end of May to reduce their running costs by 50%. It sets out an initial vision for ICBs as strategic commissioners, and the role they will play in realising...

GP practices are being encouraged to promote a video that has been launched to highlight the ‘constant abuse’ receptionists are facing on a daily basis.  ( 3 min )

While the number of GP partners is falling the vast majority of practices are still run by GP partnerships. Dr Huw Miles argues that the evidence suggests the model is evolving and that increased funding and additional training for GPs will be vital to ensure GP partnerships can thrive in the future.  ( 8 min )

Thousands of severely obese children are being supported to lose weight and live healthier lifestyles thanks to the roll-out of specialist NHS clinics and new digital ‘smart scale’ technology to deliver expert care at home. In a first-of-its-kind initiative, new technology is now being piloted at 15 Complications from Excess Weight clinics, which enables NHS […]  ( 7 min )

The risk of famine in Gaza is increasing with the deliberate withholding of humanitarian aid, including food, in the ongoing blockade. The entire 2.1 million population of Gaza is facing prolonged food shortages, with nearly half a million people in a catastrophic situation of hunger, acute malnutrition, starvation, illness and death. This is one of the world’s worst hunger crises, unfolding in real time. The latest food security analysis was released today by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) partnership, of which WHO is a member. “We do not need to wait for a declaration of famine in Gaza to know that people are already starving, sick and dying, while food and medicines are minutes away across the border,” said WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. “T…  ( 9 min )

The World Health Organization (WHO) Results Report 2024, shows progress on global health goals, even in times of growing financial uncertainties. The report, released ahead of the Seventy-eight World Health Assembly (19–27 May 2025), presents a mid-term assessment of WHO’s performance in implementing the Programme budget 2024–2025, providing a snapshot of progress towards the strategic priorities of the Thirteenth General Programme of Work, 2019–2025. The report highlights WHO’s work in over 150 countries, territories and provides an update on the implementation of the Thirteenth General Programme of Work, showcasing both the achievements so far and challenges ahead. “This report shows how, with WHO’s support, many countries are making progress on a huge range of health indicators, helping…  ( 10 min )

Capita will continue to run Primary Care Support England (PCSE) for another three years after agreeing an extension to its contract.  PCSE, which handles back-office functions for GPs such as administration of pensions and transfer of medical records, has been provided by the company Capita since 2015.  Today the provider of business process services announced The post Capita to run GP support services for another three years appeared first on Pulse Today.  ( 5 min )

Diabetes in pregnancy is associated with an increased risk of autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), a large meta-analysis has suggested. A Chinese study published in The Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology looked at data from 202 observational studies with over 56 million pairs of mothers and children. After taking into account factors that might skew The post Diabetes in pregnancy associated with increased risk of autism and ADHD appeared first on Pulse Today.  ( 7 min )

The second episode of Pulse in Focus: The Podcast for GPs is live and available wherever you get your podcasts from. Pulse features assistant Maya Dhillon is joined by Jake Beech, policy fellow at The Health Foundation. The pair dive into Jake’s recent analysis for Pulse on the number GPs hired under the Additional Roles The post Podcast: Our bite-sized tirzepatide guide, expert take on ARRS GPs, and what’s happening with LESs? appeared first on Pulse Today.  ( 7 min )

GP leaders have called on the BMA to ‘define core general practice’ and for any new GMS contracts to secure payments for additional work transferred from hospitals.  At their national conference last week, LMC representatives across the UK voted in favour of a motion which said it is ‘more important than ever to define what general The post GPs vote in favour of defining ‘core’ services and demanding payment for extra work appeared first on Pulse Today.  ( 9 min )

GP leaders have criticised BMA resident doctors for supporting a ‘protectionist policy’ around speciality places, which they argued disadvantages international medical graduates (IMGs). At their national conference in Glasgow last week, LMC representatives from around the UK voted in favour of a motion asking GP committees to ‘distance themselves from the protectionist policy passed by The post GPs criticise juniors for ‘protectionist policy’ against international graduates appeared first on Pulse Today.  ( 9 min )

Communities across England will be better equipped to combat the increasing threat of dangerous synthetic drugs, following new advice issued by the Home Office.  ( 8 min )

Department of Health and Social Care spending by electronic purchasing card solution (ePCS), over £500.  ( 3 min )

Department of Health and Social Care spending by electronic purchasing card solution (ePCS), over £500.  ( 3 min )

Department of Health and Social Care spending by electronic purchasing card solution (ePCS), over £500.  ( 3 min )

Department of Health and Social Care spending by electronic purchasing card solution (ePCS), over £500.  ( 3 min )

Department of Health and Social Care spending by electronic purchasing card solution (ePCS), over £500.  ( 3 min )

Department of Health and Social Care spending by electronic purchasing card solution (ePCS), over £500.  ( 3 min )

Department of Health and Social Care spending by electronic purchasing card solution (ePCS), over £500.  ( 3 min )

Department of Health and Social Care spending by electronic purchasing card solution (ePCS), over £500.  ( 3 min )

New measures to make it a criminal offence for people who are not qualified as a nurse to use the title and mislead the public  ( 12 min )

Government to roll out the Avoiding Brain Injuries in Childbirth (ABC) programme nationally  ( 8 min )

Government announces 29,000 extra bone scans will be delivered each year, helping with earlier diagnosis of illness such as osteoporosis.  ( 8 min )

Severity: Medium Mitel releases security advisory addressing two vulnerabilities in Mitel SIP Phones Mitel releases security advisory addressing two vulnerabilities in Mitel SIP Phones Updated: 12 May 2025

Inhealthcare has partnered with Leeds Children’s Hospital to launch virtual wards for paediatric oncology patients.  ( 12 min )

A tech partnership could help NHS, local government, and housing organisations collaborate to understand the needs of people in their care.  ( 12 min )

The NHS Wales app has been relaunched, with the Welsh government urging patients to download it to access a range of services digitally.  ( 12 min )

Capita has won a three-year extension to its contract for running Primary Care Support England (PCSE) services, the company has announced.  ( 3 min )

GPs have called for increased support for international medical graduates (IMGs) GP registrars, and warned the BMA against introducing policies that could put IMG doctors at a disadvantage when applying for jobs and training posts.  ( 3 min )

General practice in England lost more than 500 full-time equivalent GP partners in the 2024/25 financial year - the largest decline in partner numbers since the start of the decade, analysis by GPonline reveals.  ( 3 min )

Centre for Health Economics - This report extends previous investigations into NHS productivity growth carried out at the University of York. It finds NHS productivity continued to grow between 2021/22 and 2022/23 (between 0.88% and 1.05% depending on the method used). However, when compared to 2019/20, productivity in 2022/23 remains lower (between -9.65% and -9.07% depending on the method used)....

The global nursing workforce has grown from 27.9 million in 2018 to 29.8 million in 2023, but wide disparities in the availability of nurses remain across regions and countries, according to the State of the World’s Nursing 2025 report, published by the World Health Organization (WHO), International Council of Nurses (ICN) and partners. Inequities in the global nursing workforce leave many of the world’s population without access to essential health services, which could threaten progress towards universal health coverage (UHC), global health security and the health-related development goals.  The new report released on International Nurses Day provides a comprehensive and up-to-date analysis of the nursing workforce at global, regional and country levels. Consolidating information from W…  ( 11 min )

The global nursing workforce has grown from 27.9 million in 2018 to 29.8 million in 2023, but wide disparities in the availability of nurses remain across regions and countries, according to the State of the World’s Nursing 2025 report, published by the World Health Organization (WHO), International Council of Nurses (ICN) and partners. Inequities in the global nursing workforce leave many of the world’s population without access to essential health services, which could threaten progress towards universal health coverage (UHC), global health security and the health-related development goals.  The new report released on International Nurses Day provides a comprehensive and up-to-date analysis of the nursing workforce at global, regional and country levels. Consolidating information from W…  ( 11 min )

International recruitment for care workers will end under plans announced by Home Secretary Yvette Cooper.  ( 5 min )

LMC leaders have called on the BMA to launch a test case for defamation when a GP is subjected to ‘malicious, vexatious complaints’. At the UK LMCs conference in Glasgow today, LMC leaders passed a motion that called for greater protection for GPs who are subjected to unfounded complaints, including instructing the BMA to explore The post BMA instructed to launch defamation case around ‘vexatious complaints’ appeared first on Pulse Today.  ( 7 min )

GP leaders have urged the UK Government to permanently resolve the National Insurance contributions (NICs) issue instead of relying on contract negotiations to reimburse practices. The rate of employer NICs increased by 1.2 percentage points – to 15% – from 6 April with GPs excluded from protection from the hikes as they were not deemed The post GP leaders call on Treasury to permanently resolve NICs issue appeared first on Pulse Today.  ( 7 min )

A motion at the UK LMC conference called for GPs to be protected when under investigation, which passed. As part of the debate, GP partner Dr Jeremy Mellins shared his harrowing experience of an unfounded patient complaint, which he has agreed for Pulse to publish in full Eighteen months ago, my life changed. I was The post ‘I was ready to go to custody after an unfounded complaint – things need to change’ appeared first on Pulse Today.  ( 9 min )

Exclusive GPs are working for free in order to stay on the performers list as a result of the unemployment crisis, according to the BMA. In an exclusive interview with Pulse, the BMA’s GP registrars committee co-chairs said this is a ‘real issue’ since GPs may ‘lose the whole ability to practise’. Dr Victoria McKay The post GPs ‘working for free’ to stay on performers list, says BMA appeared first on Pulse Today.  ( 8 min )

The CQC has appointed Professor Bola Owolabi, a practising GP and NHS England’s inequalities lead, as its new chief inspector of primary care following a damning review last year. The role was abolished in 2023, when the chief inspectors of hospitals and primary care were merged under a new chief inspector of healthcare, but was The post CQC appoints first primary care inspector after damning report appeared first on Pulse Today.  ( 7 min )

The BMA will set up a working group to define core general practice services to help prevent unfunded work from being dumped on practices after LMCs voted in favour of the move.  ( 3 min )

The GP jobs crisis has left newly-qualified GPs and registrars facing a ‘terrifying’ situation, with some considering claiming benefits, the BMA has warned.  ( 3 min )

Midlands GP and health inequalities expert Professor Bola Owolabi has been appointed CQC chief inspector of primary care and community services.  ( 3 min )

Doctors' leaders have spoken out about the harrowing realities GPs are experiencing as a result of being unable to find work.  ( 3 min )

Professor Dame Helen Stokes Lampard talks about her new role as chief medical officer in New Zealand, how the health system differs from the UK, and the challenges of moving to a new country, along with offering advice to aspiring healthcare leaders.  ( 3 min )

NHS Confederation - For over a decade, levels of NS funding and staff have struggled to keep up with demand. Delivering effective care looks very different when an increasing number of us are living with multiple complex conditions. These challenges have contributed to poor operational performance and eroded public trust. This long read examines whether the ten-year health plan can...

Nuffield Trust - As the assisted dying Bill returns to the House of Commons next week, this analysis offers evidence from a wide range of contexts to further inform the debate. What can the UK learn from other countries that have legalised assisted dying? This long read explores assisted dying policies across 15 jurisdictions in 9 countries, highlighting practical and...

NHS Providers - With the NHS looking to recover a predicted financial shortfall that reached nearly £7bn this year, trusts have been asked to drastically reduce running costs while improving performance against key targets. With the 10-year health plan due to be published in the coming months, nearly half of trust leaders (47%) surveyed warned they are scaling back services...

Healthcare Financial Management Association - The aim of this report is to develop a better understanding of the make-up of the NHS finance function and how it has changed over time to help understand the qualifications, career path, morale and development needs of NHS finance staff. Since the last census in 2022, there has been minimal change in the number...

Call for evidence seeking views from individuals, professionals and organisations about children’s hearing services (paediatric audiology) in England.  ( 4 min )

Four experienced executive business leaders have been appointed to strengthen partnerships with strategic suppliers to health.  ( 9 min )

81% of NHS trust leaders say they do not have sufficient funding to invest in digital transformation, according to a survey by NHS Providers.  ( 13 min )

A snapshot report on the acute electronic patient record (EPR) market has found that 94% of NHS acute trusts in England now have an EPR.  ( 12 min )

This Movers and Shakes roundup includes the appointment of a permanent secretary at the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC).  ( 13 min )

The World Health Organization (WHO) and Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) have today announced a sublicensing agreement between MPP and a Nigerian health technology company – Codix Bio – to start development and manufacturing of rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) using technology transferred from global in-vitro diagnostics company – SD Biosensor (SDB). This agreement will contribute to advancing equitable access to vital diagnostic tools through local production, expanding manufacturing capacity in the African Region. The new RDT technology is especially useful for low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), as it is easy to use in health facilities without requiring additional equipment. Tests are highly sensitive and can generate results within 20 minutes. Codix Bio will initially focus on producing…  ( 11 min )

As the 8th UN Global Road Safety Week kicks off around the world under the theme “Make walking and cycling safe,” the World Health Organization (WHO) has launched a new toolkit to help governments promote active mobility – by making it safer. Each year, nearly 1.2 million people lose their lives on the roads, more than a quarter of them while walking or cycling. Yet, only 0.2% of the roads worldwide are equipped with cycle lanes, and far too many communities lack basics like sidewalks or safe pedestrian crossings. “Walking and cycling improve health and make cities more sustainable. Every step and every ride help to cut congestion, air pollution and disease,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General. “But we must make walking and cycling safe, so more people choose these he…  ( 7 min )

The BMA has revealed ‘heartbreaking’ stories from GPs struggling to find work, while calling for additional funding to end the ‘scandalous’ unemployment crisis. Speaking at the UK LMC conference today in Glasgow, sessional GP committee chair Dr Mark Steggles shared new results from a recent survey which suggested that almost 70% of GPs had experienced The post BMA reveals ‘heartbreaking’ stories of GP unemployment appeared first on Pulse Today.  ( 8 min )

In the next in our series, Dr David Capehorn asks what the likely diagnosis is in this case of a child presenting repeatedly with a limp. Put your suggestions in the comments section below. Answer to be revealed soon! Note that details of the case have been altered to protect individuals’ identities     A four-year-old The post Case of the month: Can you spot the underlying cause for this child’s limp? appeared first on Pulse Today.  ( 8 min )

Well over half of patients eligible for a Spring Covid vaccination have yet to come forward with just under six weeks left of the campaign. In all, 38.8% of those eligible have had their vaccination, the majority of which have been administered in GP practices and pharmacies, as the campaign is due to close 17 The post Majority of eligible patients yet to come forward for Spring Covid vaccination appeared first on Pulse Today.  ( 7 min )

In the next in this series sharing expert insights on the most common advice and guidance (A&G) requests in key specialties, gastroenterology fellow Dr Michael Colwill, consultant gastroenterologist Dr Andrew Poullis and GP Dr Jessica Hemingway highlight the 10 most common requests received in their gastroenterology A&G service and explain how these are managed Note The post Top ten advice and guidance requests in gastroenterology appeared first on Pulse Today.  ( 15 min )

The BMA has launched a campaign outlining the ‘value of a GP’ in a bid to make the case for increased investment in general practice across the UK. This includes a report published today ahead of the Government’s imminent spending review, setting out the case for why GPs need to be valued. The report argues The post BMA launches ‘value of a GP’ campaign to make case for investment appeared first on Pulse Today.  ( 8 min )

All GP practices in England will receive training on how best to support veterans of war, the Government has announced. Announced on the 80th anniversary of VE Day, the new three-year programme will see regional trainers work with GP practices to help establish practices to identify veterans, serving personnel and their families and provide ‘targeted’ The post All GP practices to be trained in supporting veterans, Government announces appeared first on Pulse Today.  ( 7 min )

The increase in employer national insurance contributions will be a 'death sentence' for some UK practices unless they receive funding to cover the extra costs, LMC leaders have warned.  ( 3 min )

GP leaders have called for a formal review into online prescribing of weight loss drugs amid growing concerns over safety and workload for general practice.  ( 3 min )

General practice across the UK is now 'on the verge of total collapse', according to a BMA report that demands decisive action from policymakers to value and invest in the profession before it disappears.  ( 3 min )

General practice across the UK is now 'on the verge of total collapse', according to a BMA report that demands decisive action from policymakers to value and invest in the profession before it disappears.  ( 3 min )

The BMA and RCGP have warned GP practices of risks around the use of AI technology, at a time when new tools are being rolled out rapidly and regulation is evolving to catch up.  ( 3 min )

Sets out medicines that can be moved to Northern Ireland to meet patient need.  ( 35 min )

Specialist guidance on the management (including infection control) of patients with viral haemorrhagic fever (VHF).  ( 5 min )

The Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting spoke at the Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers (Usdaw) Annual Conference in Blackpool.  ( 15 min )

Government announces £1.8 million investment to transform NHS care for veterans, serving personnel and their families.  ( 8 min )

Severity: Medium Bundled publication contains 20 security advisories, including one critical vulnerability Bundled publication contains 20 security advisories, including one critical vulnerability Updated: 08 May 2025

All health and social care trusts in Northern Ireland have now gone live with the encompass patient record system.  ( 13 min )

Our latest coffee briefing covers to go-live of the WIVS across GP practices in Wales and PocDoc partnering with Superdrug.  ( 13 min )

De-identified NHS data from 57 million people is being used to train an AI model capable of predicting future health outcomes.  ( 12 min )

Digitising NHS and adult social care services across the UK will require an estimated £21bn over the next five years, according to research.  ( 13 min )

Health Foundation - A shift from analogue to digital is at the heart of the government’s ambitions for NHS reform in England. The forthcoming NHS 10-year plan and the 2025 Spending Review, as well as the Casey Commission into social care, offer an opportunity to achieve a step-change in digitisation, improving productivity, patient experience and outcomes, and staff experience. This...

England’s top doctor has urged those eligible for a Spring COVID-19 vaccine to come forward, as figures published today show almost four in ten eligible people have received their jabs (38.8%). The weekly vaccination data, also published today, shows NHS teams have now delivered over 3 million (3,049,506) jabs since the rollout kicked off on […]  ( 5 min )

Practices will need to establish new rules setting out what requests patients can make online and how these will be dealt with from October, when they are required to keep online consultation systems open throughout core hours, the BMA has said.  ( 3 min )

Exclusive: Locum GPs have been forced to drop their rates by a further 2% in the past four months as the shortage of GP jobs continues to hit pay, a sessional GP organisation has warned.  ( 3 min )

An NHS blueprint outlining changes to the 'focus, role and functions' of ICBs as they aim to slash running costs by 50% could drive a significant shift in management of primary care.  ( 3 min )

GPs could help catch cases of oesophageal cancer by offering a simple test to patients being treated for chronic heartburn. An NHS study has been evaluating the use of EndoSign capsule sponge testing in GP surgeries and diagnostic hubs across the East of England, Lancashire and South Cumbria, and Wessex Cancer Alliance. In the Cytoprime The post Capsule sponge test can help GPs find patients with oesophageal cancer appeared first on Pulse Today.  ( 7 min )

ICBs could hand some of their existing functions over to the new ‘neighbourhood teams’ under draft plans shared by NHS England. A draft ‘model ICB blueprint’, shared with local commissioners this month and first covered by HSJ, outlined areas which could be transferred to other organisations in order to help ICBs achieve a 50% reduction The post ICBs could hand over some functions to neighbourhood teams, NHSE proposes appeared first on Pulse Today.  ( 8 min )

Copperfield on secondary care’s reluctance on returning to face-to-face consultations post-pandemic I have some breaking news for consultants and their teams. Covid is over! Covid is so over, in fact, that it almost has a cosy nostalgic glow for those of us reminiscing about all those telephone, fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants consultations we so didn’t enjoy. Yet, somehow, The post Consultants should face-to-face up to post-Covid consulting appeared first on Pulse Today.  ( 5 min )

Up to 1,000 women a year could benefit from a second at-home treatment option for endometriosis, as linzagolix has been approved by NICE. A daily dose of linzagolix should be made available for patients whose previous medical or surgical treatments for endometriosis have been unsuccessful, NICE has recommended in draft guidance. It will need to The post Linzagolix approved as second at-home treatment option for endometriosis appeared first on Pulse Today.  ( 7 min )

The requirement for GP practices to keep online consultation tools open all day will likely cause a ‘temporary spike’ rather than a ‘sustained increase’ in demand, the BMA has suggested. As part of the 2025/26 GP contract, practices will be obliged from 1 October to keep their e-consult software open to patients ‘for the duration The post All-day online consultations will only cause ‘temporary’ GP demand spike, says BMA appeared first on Pulse Today.  ( 7 min )

Information on the Department of Health and Social Care's (DHSC) approach to the use of administrative sources for statistical purposes.  ( 3 min )

Digital leadership and transformation are being reviewed for transfer from ICBs to providers, according to a blueprint from NHS England.  ( 13 min )

Professor Andy Hardy, chief executive of University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust, will speak at Summer Schools 2025.  ( 12 min )

Local authorities are struggling to make the investment case for proactive digital care services, according to a commission.  ( 12 min )

Centre for Mental Health - At a time of rising demand for mental health care and years of declining mental wellbeing in society, mental health services in England are under enormous pressure. The upcoming ten-year health plan and Spending Review is an opportunity for the government to ensure public money is spent wisely, on services that will meet people’s needs...

Severity: Medium Four vulnerabilities could allow an attacker to perform unauthenticated remote command execution Four vulnerabilities could allow an attacker to perform unauthenticated remote command execution Updated: 07 May 2025

GPs will soon be instructed to make anonymous patient data available to a ‘secure’ data sharing platform as it expands to cover non-Covid research.  NHS England wrote to GP practices last week about the expansion of the OpenSAFELY research platform, which it approved earlier this year. OpenSAFELY, developed by the University of Oxford, was used The post NHSE will soon instruct GPs to release anonymised patient data for research appeared first on Pulse Today.  ( 7 min )

The BMA has warned GPs of the potential risks when using artificial intelligence (AI) while regulations are still in a ‘state of flux’.  In interim guidance, the GP Committee told GP practices they must have ‘absolute clarity around the use of confidential patient data’ when using AI software. It also said the GPC is pushing The post BMA warns GPs of AI risks as regulation currently in ‘state of flux’ appeared first on Pulse Today.  ( 5 min )

Dr David Turner lambasts an article lauding A&G as the way to keep people out of hospital, arguing that increased investment in general practice would actually do the trick Come on, own up. Who are all these GPs admitting patients to hospital with earache and IBS? Because, according to BBC News, a ‘new’ scheme called The post A&G is not the way to keep ‘millions out of hospital’ appeared first on Pulse Today.  ( 5 min )

Over 1,000 GP surgeries across England will now receive premises funding from the Government for ‘quick fix’ upgrades this year, instead of 200 as initially announced. The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) announced today that a capital fund of £102m – first announced in the Budget last year – will ‘create additional space’ The post Government decides to stretch premises upgrades fund across 1,000 GP practices appeared first on Pulse Today.  ( 8 min )

There are two-thirds more people in England with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) than previously thought, researchers have reported. A revised estimate predicts there are around 404,000 people affected by ME/CFS – 62% higher than the previously accepted figure of 250,000. The team at the University of Edinburgh used NHS data from more than 62 The post Researchers find many more ME/CFS patients in England than previously reported appeared first on Pulse Today.  ( 7 min )

Severity: Medium Two vulnerabilities could allow an attacker to corrupt the memory of the application or execute arbitrary code Two vulnerabilities could allow an attacker to corrupt the memory of the application or execute arbitrary code Updated: 06 May 2025

NHS England - This service specification outlines the requirements and evidence-based protocols for the delivery of urgent and non-urgent unscheduled dental care in England. It will support the local commissioning of unscheduled dental care services, including those to support the government’s manifesto commitment to deliver 700,000 additional urgent dental care appointments in 2025/26. Specification

NHS England - This clinical guidance supports the effective delivery of unscheduled dental care services in England, both during and outside normal working hours. It aims to support equitable access to timely, safe and effective care that is tailored to individual’s needs. It covers both in-person treatment and remote advice during initial triage. Guidance More detail

Health and Social Care Committee - This report sets out the high cost of the continuing failure to tackle the crisis in adult social care. Time and again, governments have stepped back from reform when faced with the cost. Too much emphasis is put on the cost of change and not enough consideration is given to the human and financial...

TEC Services Association (TSA) - A new national commission – led by the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS) and the TSA – is calling for greater support for councils to invest in proactive and preventative digital care services. After engaging more than 50 social care leaders from local authorities across the UK, the commission found that a...

Incisive Health - The government's call for evidence to inform the forthcoming National Cancer Plan highlights that earlier diagnosis will be one of the major themes of the Plan. However, despite the consensus that early intervention is necessary, actual progress in delivering a ‘left shift’ has been limited. This report, commissioned by AstraZeneca, explores the reasons behind this lack of...

Directions for the NHS from the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care relating to payments for primary medical services contractors.  ( 4 min )

A full list of schemes included in the Primary Care Utilisation and Modernisation Fund.  ( 3 min )

Patients to access over 8.3 million new appointments this year, helping deliver the government’s Plan for Change  ( 10 min )

The Digital Poverty Alliance (DPA) has launched an inquiry into digital inclusion in the healthcare sector.  ( 12 min )

Our coffee briefing covers an AI agent for cataracts patients at Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells, plus a new milestone for Patients Know Best.  ( 13 min )

A child-friendly app from Little Journey is now available for patients in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at Lister Hospital.  ( 12 min )

AI-driven heart scans which cut the need for invasive tests have saved millions of pounds for the NHS, according to a new analysis.  ( 13 min )

Unspent additional roles reimbursement scheme (ARRS) funding should be ringfenced for general practice after confirmation that the money will no longer be clawed back by the Treasury, leading GPs have said.  ( 3 min )

A £102m fund for GP premises upgrades unveiled last October by the government will be split across 'over 1,000 surgeries' - spreading a sum the BMA says falls far short of what is needed far thinner than originally planned, the government has said.  ( 3 min )

Revolutionary AI-driven 3D heart scans cut the need for invasive tests and have already saved millions of pounds, according to new analysis. Now rolled out across 56 NHS hospitals in England, the clever tech enables doctors to diagnose and treat patients with suspected heart disease much faster by turning a CT scan of their heart […]  ( 6 min )

A global report published by the World Health Organization (WHO) highlights that the underlying causes of ill health often stem from factors beyond the health sector, such as lack of quality housing, education and job opportunities.  ( 10 min )

A cancer diagnostic tool will be rolled out across the NHS to help cut treatment delays and boost survival rates, DHSC has announced.  ( 12 min )

Hundreds of thousands of pupils sitting exams this week have been helped to manage stress and anxiety by NHS teams in the classroom. Almost 600 hundred colleges and sixth form centres have NHS clinicians offering one-to-one support, workshops, and training for teachers on how to support pupils struggling with their mental health. More than 250,000 […]  ( 5 min )