Health and care sector latest developments
Government publishes National Cancer Plan
The government has published its plan to transform cancer care and outcomes in England by 2035.
Ministers are promising earlier diagnosis and faster treatment and have said that the ambition in the plan will herald the fastest improvement in cancer outcomes this century.
Latest data for 2022 shows five-year survival at 60 per cent, leaving the UK lagging behind other developed countries.
To help achieve the goal, the government has pledged to hit the 62-day waiting time target by 2029. It is more than a decade since it was met.
Experts have warned that it will require significant extra investment, particularly in staff, to make improvement.
Cost of UK’s drug price deal with US to come out of NHS budget
The cost of the government’s drug pricing deal with the Trump administration will come out of the NHS budget instead of the Treasury’s and could eventually reach £9 billion a year, campaigners have warned.
Patrick Vallance, the science minister, has confirmed that the costs – initially an extra £1 billion over three years – will be borne by the Department of Health and Social Care, which funds the NHS in England, and not the Treasury.
His admission came in a letter to the Commons Science, Innovation and Technology Select Committee.
Dr Layla McCay, director of policy, speaking on behalf of the NHS Confederation and NHS Providers, said that health leaders “will be concerned to note that against an already very challenging financial environment DHSC budgets will be used…It also remains unclear which planned DHSC spending will need to be cut to cover the costs of higher medicines spending.”
Over half of professionals satisfied in their work, NMC data shows
A new survey of nurses, midwives and nursing associates by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) has revealed that over half of respondents (58 per cent) are satisfied in their work.
Many professionals spoke about how much they valued their positive interactions with the people they care for, as well as with their colleagues.
However, the survey revealed that only 12 per cent of respondents would recommend the nursing and midwifery professions as a career.
Seventy per cent of respondents reported experiencing such behaviours in the past year most commonly from the public but also from managers or other colleagues, while 40 per cent of respondents said they had experienced discrimination, most often on the grounds of ethnicity or age.
Rebecca Smith, director of staff experience and social partnerships at NHS Employers, welcomed the report but said that serious pressures around workload, burnout, discrimination and patient safety are “unacceptable”. She added that the report “offers important evidence for workforce planning and retention efforts, and it timely given the focus on the 10 Year Workforce Plan”.
Late-night pharmacy numbers plummet
In England, the number of late-night pharmacies has reduced by over 90 per cent in three years.
After years of funding cuts, only one in 100 pharmacies open after 9.00pm at least one evening a week, down from around one in ten in 2022.
The fall is a result of a 2023 rule change, which allows pharmacies to reduce opening hours if they need to cut costs.
Chair of the National Pharmacy Association, Oliver Picard, said “the economics of running a 100-hour pharmacy collapsed” as a result of funding cuts which began in 2015.
A Department for Health and Social Care spokesperson highlighted the funding uplift recently provided to community pharmacies, adding that it is “working hard to turn around a decade of underfunding and neglect that left the sector on the brink of collapse”.
Biggest GP chain aims for 1 million patients after profit tops £4 million
Operose Health, England’s largest provider of GP services plans to grow to cover one million patients in the next few years.
GP practices owned by Operose now have total patient lists of more than than 700,000, across 70 separate contracts, operating in 82 locations and 16 integrated care systems, according to the company.
It recorded a £4.6 million profit in the year to March 2025, while previous years had seen it lose money, partly due to purchases and other transactions.
One in six autistic pupils in UK have not attended school since September
One in six autistic pupils have not been to school at all since the start of this academic year, a survey of nearly 1,000 autistic young people and their families by the Ambitious About Autism charity has revealed.
Of those who missed school, 62 per cent said it was due to mental health issues and 30 per cent said they were too physically unwell to go to school. A fifth said their school place was not suitable.
Nearly half (45 per cent) of the parents and children who responded to the survey said they felt ‘blamed’ by the government for the absences.
The government is expected to introduce measures it claims are aimed at boosting provision in mainstream schools so they are better able to meet the needs of children with SEND, though it accepts some pupils will always require a specialist place.
Select committee hears evidence on NHS pilots
The Health and Social Care Select Committee has today heard evidence from two separate panels on why it is that promising NHS pilot schemes that deliver better results don’t always lead to systemic improvements across the country.
Among those giving evidence on the first panel were John James, chief executive at Sickle Cell Society, Dr Jennifer Kilcoyne, chief executive at National HOPE(S) Collaborative, Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust and Solomon Tesfaye, research director at Sheffield Teaching Hospital.
On the second panel were Dr Claire Fuller, national medical director at NHS England, Dr Kathy McLean OBE, chair of the NHS Confederation’s Integrated Care Systems Network and chair of Nottingham and Nottinghamshire ICB (appearing in her capacity as the latter only) and Professor Kath Checkland, joint director at NIHR Policy Research Unit.
