Health and care sector latest developments
NHS Confederation and NHS Providers respond to latest NHS performance stats
Figures released today show that 9,110,591 attended A&E between November and February this winter – the first time in the history of the NHS that the number has topped nine million.
NHS England also reported that waiting times for patients this winter were the shortest in four years, with the number of patients attending A&E who were admitted, transferred, or discharged within four hours of arrival at emergency departments at 73.6 per cent this winter – its highest rate since 2021/22 when it was 73.8 per cent.
Ambulances responded faster to the most serious call outs this winter, including for strokes and heart attacks, than they had since 2020/21, with average Category 2 ambulance waits down to 32:29.
Meanwhile, the waiting list for elective treatments decreased to 7.25 million in January 2026, dropping by 43,666 compared to the previous month.
Speaking on behalf of the NHS Confederation and NHS Providers, acute and community care director, Rory Deighton said that “NHS leaders and their teams have gone above and beyond to ensure the health service will hit the government’s key pledge that 65 per cent of patients will not wait more than 18 weeks from referral to treatment by the end of the month”. However, he warned that “health leaders know well there is still much to do to make further inroads to maintain performance, and as the target increases to 92 per cent three years from now”.
Findings of 2025 NHS Staff Survey revealed
The latest NHS staff survey has revealed that almost one in seven NHS staff (14.47 per cent) were physically attacked by a patient or the public last year – the highest rate for three years.
A record percentage of staff also say they were subjected to unwanted sexual behaviour by a patient or the public – for ambulance staff, the figure was almost one in three (31 per cent).
A record high 9.26 per cent said they were subjected to discrimination from the patient and the public.
87.78 per cent of respondents to the staff survey felt their job made a difference to patients. However, the number of staff who would recommend their workplace to others fell slightly to 58.05 per cent from 60.79 per cent the previous year.
More than 766,000 NHS workers in England responded to the survey.
Speaking on behalf of the NHS Confederation and NHS Providers, acute and community care director, Rory Deighton said it was “completely unacceptable that so many colleagues have been physically attacked and subjected to unwanted sexual behaviour in the line of duty”, while acknowledging “some small improvements in this year’s staff survey results, for example in compassionate leadership and support from line managers”.
Interim chief executive at NHS Employers, Dean Royles said that NHS leaders would have “mixed feelings” about the staff survey results, adding that it was “distressing to see that staff continue to personally experience discrimination from patients and other members of the public”.
Government publishes written statement on mental health investment
The proportion of the NHS budget spent on mental healthcare will be cut for the third year in a row, it has been confirmed.
Health secretary, Wes Streeting, outlined spending plans for next year in a written statement on health investment that was published this afternoon.
He confirmed that the proportion allocated to mental health in 2026/27 is forecast to be 8.4 per cent, lower than the 8.71 per cent planned for the current year and the 9 per cent in 2023/24 and 8.78 per cent in 2024/25.
The health secretary said the reduction is a “consequence of significant additional investment in other core areas, including those that benefit mental health services, such as the substantial amounts going into NHS technology and digital transformation, general practice, community-based services, and neighbourhood health centres”.
Mental health director speaking on behalf of the NHS Confederation and NHS Providers, Rebecca Gray pointed to the “long-standing recognition by successive governments that underfunding mental health is not just bad for patients but for wider communities and for the economy” and said that without effective mental health services, the shift towards toward community based, preventive, and early intervention support risked being jeopardised.
Hundreds of GPs never refused a fit note for mental health concerns
Hundreds of GPs have never refused to sign a patient off work for mental health issues, the BBC has revealed.
Of the 752 GPs who responded to a questionnaire sent to them by BBC News, 540 said they had never refused such a request, while 162 told us they had turned at least one down. Fifty preferred not to say.
Some expressed frustration with the current system, arguing that the provision of fit notes should not be part of a GP’s job, while others highlighted instances of patients becoming aggressive if they were not signed off work.
CQC considered bypassing ministers to hire new chief executive
A non-executive director at the Care Quality Commission (CQC), Ken Boycott has said that the regulator considered recruiting a replacement for Sir Julian Hartley without government approval due to a four-month delay in getting it signed off.
Ms Boycott said that the CQC, which must get approval from the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) before beginning the process to recruit a chief executive, had been pressing ministers since December.
However, the CQC’s board concluded the penalties incurred by recruiting without the DHSC’s approval would be ‘unaffordable’.
US firm seals NHS tech deal worth £222 million
Four trusts across two integrated care systems have signed a tech contract worth £222 million with a US supplier for a new shared electronic patient record (EPR) system.
Somerset Foundation Trust (FT), Dorset County Hospitals Trust, University Hospitals Dorset Trust and Dorset Healthcare University FT have signed a ten-year contract with Epic for an EPR system that will be shared across the four trusts which make up all the providers in Somerset and Dorset ICSs.
