Health and care sector latest developments
Weight-loss drugs alone will not solve UK’s obesity crisis, says Professor Chris Whitty
At the annual Medical Journalists Association lecture Professor Chris Whitty said that weight-loss drugs cannot rescue the UK from its deepening obesity crisis and produce unpleasant side-effects for many users.
His scepticism about drugs such as Mounjaro and Wegovy, known as GLP-1 agonists, contrasted with Wes Streeting, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, who has hailed them as a ‘real gamechanger’ in tackling obesity.
Professor Whitty cautioned against relying too much on the drugs to treat obesity. Tougher action to curb junk food advertising and make food healthier to prevent obesity occurring would be a better course of action to take, he said.
Surgeon operates on patient 1,000 miles away
A prostate cancer patient in Gibraltar has been operated on remotely by a surgeon in London.
On Wednesday, Professor Prokar Dasgupta, a leading robotic urological surgeon, performed a prostatectomy – a surgical removal of the prostate – on Paul Buxton, who was more than 1,000 miles away.
The surgeon said it was ‘almost as if I was there’, with a lag time of just 0.06 seconds between him moving a tool in London and the robot carrying out the operation.
Professor Dasgupta hailed Britain’s first remote surgery as a ‘milestone’.
Labour on track to hit NHS waiting list pledge ... in 20 years
Labour’s manifesto pledge to cut NHS waiting times could take two decades to deliver, based on current trends.
In the lead-up to the general election, the Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer promised to restore standards to their previous high of 92 per cent of patients treated within 18 weeks by the end of this parliamentary term.
But The Telegraph’s analysis shows that, at the current pace, it would take until 2044 to hit this target, last reached in February 2016 under David Cameron.
Staff ‘losing confidence’ in high-performing trust as job cuts bite
Staff at a trust seeking to significantly reduce its pay bill are experiencing a ‘loss of pride, loyalty or confidence’ in the organisation, according to an internal report.
According to the Health Service Journal, Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells Trust is seeking to reduce its permanent staff levels to 7,068 through a ‘workforce transformation programme’. However, despite redundancy costs of £4.1 million this year, it is still 433 whole-time equivalents away from its target.
The trust has hired PwC to help with the efficiency programme and has frozen external recruitment for the great majority of posts. Total potential redundancy costs have been set at circa £15 million.
Wes Streeting hires adviser to combat staff anger over pay
Wes Streeting has hired an experienced trade union official to help him deal with growing industrial unrest throughout the NHS workforce.
Liz Chinchen spent 11 years at Unison as its head of media and then chief of staff. She began work as a senior adviser to the health and social care secretary on Thursday.
Government recently announced a 3.3 per cent pay award for Agenda for Change staff in the NHS.
Mackey delays two more EPR launches
NHS England has intervened to delay the roll-out of electronic patient record systems (EPR) at two trusts, due to major concerns over the operational impact.
A major go-live of a Nervecentre EPR at York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals, due last week, was suspended.
And roll-out of elements of Nervecentre systems at Sherwood Forest Hospitals has also been delayed, HSJ understands.
Several sources said the delays were ordered by NHSE due to the likely disruption to elective activity and emergency care. National leaders are trying to hit annual recovery targets for the end of this month.
Hospitals exit special measures after seven years
An acute trust has come out of NHS England’s ‘recovery support’ regime, more than seven years after it was placed in special measures.
Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Trust (SaTH) has made significant improvements in finance, performance and governance, a review by NHS England has decided.
It was initially put in special measures by regulators in 2018. That regime was scrapped in 2021, when SaTH was moved to the new ‘recovery support programme’.
Major failings in its maternity services were uncovered in the late 2010s, which were subject to an inquiry that reported in 2022, and are still subject to a police investigation.
