Major health service reforms have had mixed results, and more emphasis on tech, community-based care and prevention has been tried before

• Starmer outlines plan to shift NHS care from hospitals to new health centres

Keir Starmer and Wes Streeting say the 10-year health plan will usher in a “new era for the NHS” in England. Their promised transformation will ensure it works in a more patient-friendly way and offers faster care, with health professionals providing a greater range of services in the same place and spotting illness earlier.

The “three big shifts” in the way the health service operates will involve it becoming more tech-based, moving significant amounts of care into community settings and giving greater priority to preventing illness rather than treating it.

Continue reading...

Former health secretary defends decision to discharge untested patients into care homes as ‘least worst option’

Bereaved families have said Matt Hancock’s evidence to the Covid inquiry “was full of excuses and completely devoid of accountability” as he described discharging untested patients into care homes as “the least worst option”.

In his testimony to the UK Covid-19 inquiry on Wednesday, the former health secretary defended the decision to move hospital patients into care homes during the early weeks of the pandemic to free up bed space.

Continue reading...

Program mirrors earlier successful mission to fight new world screwworm fly, whose larvae can infest living tissue

The US government is preparing to breed billions of flies and dump them out of airplanes over Mexico and southern Texas to fight a flesh-eating maggot.

That sounds like the plot of a horror movie, but it is part of the government’s plans for protecting the US from a bug that could devastate its beef industry, decimate wildlife and even kill household pets. This weird science has worked well before.

Continue reading...

Former health secretary Matt Hancock denied claims the government's attempt to throw a protective ring around care homes in early 2020 was empty rhetoric.

Former health secretary Matt Hancock denied claims the government's attempt to throw a protective ring around care homes in early 2020 was empty rhetoric.

Liberal justices rule the state’s 19th-century ban was replaced by later law allowing abortion until viability

The Wisconsin supreme court’s liberal majority struck down the state’s 176-year-old abortion ban on Wednesday, ruling 4-3 that it was superseded by a newer state law that criminalizes abortions only after a fetus can survive outside the womb.

State lawmakers adopted the ban in 1849, making it a felony when anyone other than the mother “intentionally destroys the life of an unborn child”.

Continue reading...

Catherine says "you put on a sort of brave face" during treatment but afterwards it can also feel "really difficult".

Chief medical officer for England urges people to set media cliches aside to focus on health benefits of physical activity

Culture war-based coverage of cycling based on stereotypes of middle-aged men in Lycra could harm the nation’s health because it shifts focus away from the people and communities who benefit from physical activity, Chris Whitty has said.

Speaking a day before the launch of the NHS’s 10-year-health plan, which is expected to focus heavily on prevention, the chief medical officer for England called on people to set aside media cliches and instead focus on “data which nobody can dispute”.

Continue reading...

Official figures show that the birth rate in England and Wales went up for the first time since 2021.

Know the signs and what to do if someone is unwell in hot weather.

James Gallagher looks at the evidence for claims the benefits of sun could outweigh risks.

The most powerful public health official in the US is reviled by some medics - but even some of his critics accept that he is bringing drive to healthcare areas that have long been neglected

Relatives of care home residents tell the Covid inquiry they will never get over how their loved ones died.

Simple tips to help you get a good night's sleep during hot weather.

The Covid inquiry will examine the impact of the pandemic on care services, starting on Monday.

Supermarkets will be challenged to sell healthier food, under a new government obesity plan.

One month on from the disposable vape ban, one mum says it has had little impact on her children's nicotine consumption.

It's hoped phages could give us new ways of treating infections which are immune to antibiotics.

Roman Kemp & Tom Grennan dive into therapy on the You About? podcast.

Use our interactive tracker to see if treatment waits are getting better at your local hospital