Health and care sector latest developments

Government confirms 250 Neighbourhood Health Centres in drive to cut waiting lists

The Chancellor has announced new plans to reduce waiting lists, which are set to be formally announced at the Budget.

Today's announcement confirms 250 new Neighbourhood Health Centres, bringing GPs, nurses, dentists, and pharmacists together under one roof.

The aim is that, by delivering care closer to home, patients can receive timelier care while reducing the postcode lottery of access to healthcare.

£300 million will also be invested in NHS tech, with new tools rolled out to staff to help them improve their productivity, such as through the automation of administrative tasks.

An announcement on waiting lists has long been speculated, and would usually broadly be welcomed by Labour MPs.

However, today's plans confirm that the Neighbourhood Health Centres will be delivered through a combination of public-private partnerships and public investment.

NHS Confederation director of primary care, Ruth Rankine responded: "Innovative use of existing estate across the whole of the NHS as well as local authorities, with the potential for new private sector investment, will support the delivery of neighbourhood services".

Labour faces steep challenge to meet NHS waiting time pledge, research finds

New research shows Labour would need to cut England’s NHS waiting list by more than half, from 7.39 million to around 3.4 million by 2029 to meet its promise that 92 per cent of patients are treated within 18 weeks.

As The Telegraph notes, this requires reducing the backlog by roughly one million cases a year, far beyond the gains made so far.

The study highlights big regional and speciality disparities, with areas like the East of England and services such as orthopaedics needing the largest reductions.

While ministers insist progress is being made, experts warn that current plans fall well short of what’s needed.

Wes Streeting speech at the King’s Fund conference

At the King’s Fund Annual Conference, held in partnership with Barnardo’s, Wes Streeting delivered an address on children’s health. He highlighted that today’s children are experiencing poorer health outcomes than the previous generation, with obesity at record levels and tooth decay now the leading cause of hospital admissions among five- to nine-year-olds.

Streeting emphasised that tackling these challenges requires collective action from government, charities, and businesses. He announced plans to expand the levy on sugary drinks to include milk-based and milk-substitute products. The existing levy has already halved children’s sugar consumption, but the government intends to go further.

He concluded by stressing that the sustainability of the NHS depends on halting the rise of preventable illness. His vision is to raise the healthiest generation of children in history, creating a fairer and more equal society in the process.

Unpaid carers to have penalties reassessed

Unpaid carers left with huge debts due to government failure and maladministration will have their cases reassessed.

The Guardian reports that a review will reveal the ‘draconian’ penalties faced by carers wrongly accused of benefit fraud, which include criminal convictions and fines of up to £20,000. The review is set to be published today. 

While the government has pledged to cancel or reduce wrongly issued penalties, compensation is not expected to be one of the recommendations of the review.

Work and pensions secretary Pat McFadden said the government has "listened to carers, commissioned an independent review, and are now making good for those affected".

Institute for Government publishes report

The final instalment of Public Services Performance Tracker 2025, produced in partnership with the Institute for Government and Nuffield Foundation, is now out, offering a cross-service analysis of all the services covered in this year's edition. 

In the tracker it states that on July 2024 Labour inherited a system in which almost all the public services on which the public rely were stuck in a doom loop of short-termism.  

Sixteen months on, this year's Performance Tracker examines that inheritance, and the decisions the government has made since – with in-depth chapters on local government, the NHS, schools and the criminal justice system. 

This final chapter brings together that analysis, finding that while the government has made progress its reform programme is likely to add up to less than the sum of its parts due to poor preparation in opposition and lack of coordination since.  

It makes the following recommendations for how the government can improve services over the rest of this parliament: 

• Urgently establish a cross-cutting approach to public services.
• Operationalise and scale up public service reform plans.
• Support services to use their capital budgets more effectively.
• Develop deliverable workforce plans.
• Fix data problems and gaps.

Immunotherapy leukaemia treatment approved on NHS

NICE has approved an immunotherapy treatment for an aggressive form of leukaemia.

Obe-cel, a CAR T-cell therapy, led to cancer in 77 per cent of patients suffering from B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia going into remission.

Around 50 patients could receive the treatment each year in England, and will be available to people aged 26 and over.

NHS national clinical director for cancer, Professor Peter Johnson, said the approval "could give patients with this aggressive form of leukaemia a chance to live free from cancer for longer. And for some, it could offer the hope of a cure."

Largest mental health trust appoints interim chief executive

A large London mental health trust has appointed an interim chief executive following a “robust and competitive process”.

South London and Maudsley Foundation Trust (SLaM) has announced that its chief operating officer Ade Odunlade will take over at interim chief executive from 1 December.

This follows last month’s news that the trust’s long-standing chief executive David Bradley will retire at the end of this year, after four decades working in the NHS.

Mr Odunlade joined SLaM as chief operating officer two years ago from Derbyshire Healthcare Foundation Trust where we was also chief operating officer. He started his NHS career at the Maudsley Hospital in 1993 and has worked across both public and private healthcare services. In a statement the trust said he brings “a wealth of knowledge, expertise, and unwavering focus on patient care that will benefit our communities”.

Streeting’s allies position him as preferred successor to Starmer

Supporters of Wes Streeting are quietly preparing for a potential Labour leadership change after the May elections, arguing that he offers continuity without a shift to the left and would be a unifying, lower-risk alternative.

As The Times reports, although Streeting publicly backs Keir Starmer, his allies believe a ‘coronation’ rather than a contest would avoid pressure for a snap election and preserve Labour’s 2024 manifesto platform.

However, concerns remain about his narrow majority and Labour’s high threshold for triggering a leadership challenge, with some MPs suggesting Starmer may only step aside if enough colleagues directly urge it.