Health and care sector latest developments
Health secretary urges resident doctors to reconsider pay offer
Health secretary, Wes Streeting, has sent an open letter to resident doctors, sharing what he calls ‘the full details of the package’ that was this week rejected by the British Medical Association’s (BMA) Resident Doctor Committee (RDC) ‘so that you can make your own judgement about what it would mean for you and your career in the NHS’.
Mr Streeting said the offer, if accepted, would have increased pay, created jobs, improved resident doctors’ career prospects and reimbursed exam fees. He confirmed that the BMA’s RDC has until Thursday (2 April 2026) to reconsider its position on the offer.
Strikes are currently set to take place from 7 April until 13 April.
New community funding to improve men’s health outcomes
A £6.3 million partnership between the government, Movember, and People’s Health Trust will fund community led projects to improve men’s physical and mental health, particularly in disadvantaged areas and at key life stages such as fatherhood, unemployment, and retirement.
The initiative focuses on reaching men less likely to engage with traditional services by delivering support through trusted local organisations, while also testing and expanding effective approaches nationwide.
Health secretary, Wes Streeting, stressed that too many men “are living shorter, less healthy lives”, adding that the programme will provide support “in the places they feel most comfortable” and help “reach the men who are too often missed”.
New screen time guidance for parents of under-fives
The government has published guidance for parents of children under the age of five on screen time.
It follows weeks of engagement with over a thousand parents who called for clear support on how much screen time is too much, and how to build healthy habits.
Twenty-four per cent of parents of three‑ to five‑year‑olds find it hard to control their child’s screen time, and 98 per cent of two‑year‑olds watch screens every day.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer acknowledged that some people will oppose the government providing guidance on the matter, but he said that parents will not be left to “face this battle alone” and that he will “always stand on the side of parents doing their best for their children”.
NHS England halts EPR deployment at a third trust
North Cumbria Integrated Care (NCIC) Foundation Trust has had to delay the rollout of its electronic patient record (EPR) following a last-minute intervention from NHS England.
The trust said that it was “on track for go live” at the beginning of this month but was told in late February that the centre was “unable to approve any go-lives at the time”.
NCIC signed a ten-year contract worth £31 million with Australian-based supplier Alcidion last year.
It comes after at least two other trusts were forced to delay their EPR go-lives at the last minute due to intervention from NHS England in February.
Third of workplace sickness absence is due to stress, anxiety, depression or other mental health problems
A YouGov survey, commissioned by Acas, has found that 32 per cent of employers report stress, anxiety, depression or other mental health problems as a reason staff give for sickness absence.
The survey asked employers for the top three reasons employees give for being off sick from work.
Sixty-two per cent of respondents said that workers report their absences as being due to minor illnesses, such as coughs, colds and the flu, while 23 per cent said that the absences are due to headaches and migraines.
NHS Confederation and NHS Providers publish report on digital inclusion
The NHS Confederation and NHS Providers have published a new report, Assessing Digital Inclusion in the NHS: How Ready Are We for the NHS App?
The report argues that a digitally enabled NHS is only possible if people are proactively digitally included. It includes a digital exclusion index providing a clear insight into where digital barriers are greatest and which interventions are most likely to address them.
Three case studies are featured in the report, Nottingham and Nottinghamshire ICB, Greater Manchester ICB and Sussex ICB, illustrating different system approaches to tackling digital exclusion, from community-led delivery models to system-wide arrangements.
BMA internal dispute continues
Hundreds of British Medical Association (BMA) staff are striking over what they see as unfair pay, accusing the union of hypocrisy for offering them a below inflation rise, while demanding a much larger increase for doctors.
The dispute exposes tensions between the organisation and its employees, with staff arguing that they are experiencing the same cost-of-living pressures as the doctors they support, as they call for a fairer deal.
The situation is intensifying as staff walkouts coincide with planned doctor strikes, showing the widening conflict within the union itself.
New system flags hidden health misinformation risks
A new tool developed at University College London identifies misleading diet and vaccine advice online, including subtle claims that may appear credible but can still cause serious harm.
Instead of simply labelling information as true or false, the tool evaluates how likely content is to mislead people and ranks the risk level.
The system aims to support regulators, platforms, and educators in preventing harm, especially as misinformation has been linked to unsafe diets, toxic substitutions, and people abandoning medical treatments.
