Broadstairs woman reunited with life-saving ambulance crew
Mr Ashby said he had "always wondered what happened to Sophie"."It was extremely rewarding for us to get the opportunity to reunite with her six years on," he added.
'Incredibly moving'
Ms Dougherty was taken to the Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Hospital in Margate and given a blue-light transfer to King's College Hospital in London, where specialist neurosurgeons were on standby.She underwent multiple emergency operations and spent more than six months in hospital, including time in intensive care.Throughout her recovery, Ms Dougherty has been supported by her daughter, now 13, who has become her primary carer."Jade's been my rock," Ms Dougherty said."She's had to grow up so quickly, but she's never once complained. I honestly don't know how I'd have coped without her."Mr Macer said it was "incredibly moving" to see the role Jade had played in her mother's recovery.
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The Guardian
8 minutes ago
- The Guardian
NHS in England told to slash recruitment of overseas-trained medics
Hospitals and GP practices in England will be told to slash the number of overseas-trained doctors and nurses they recruit under government plans for the NHS that will be published on Thursday. Graduates of UK medical schools will be given priority as part of a drive to reduce the health service's dependence on medics from abroad. NHS care providers will be told to cut the number of doctors they hire from overseas from 34% to under 10% to give homegrown medics a better chance of progressing their careers. A large and growing number of UK-trained medical graduates have found themselves 'in career limbo' after failing to secure a specialty training post – the first step on the ladder to becoming a consultant or GP. The British Medical Association has said that about 20,000 doctors applying for training positions in the NHS across the UK this year will be denied one in their chosen specialism because there are too few available. The edict on overseas recruitment will be outlined in the government's 10-year plan to improve the NHS and public health in England. It will say that UK-trained doctors will be given priority for places in NHS postgraduate medical training. The plan highlights that the world is likely to be facing a shortage of 11 million health professionals – doctors, nurses and midwives – by 2030 due to the ageing population and growing demand for healthcare. 'That means it will neither be possible nor ethical to maintain our current levels of international recruitment. We need to reduce the NHS's dependence on overseas staff from its current level, where 34% of new recruits have a non-UK nationality,' the report states. The NHS in England has employed much larger numbers of overseas-trained doctors, nurses and midwives in recent years, especially since 2020, the year the UK left the EU as a result of the 2016 Brexit vote. Many doctors are from India, Pakistan and Nigeria while a significant numbers of nurses are from India and the Philippines. Some are from poor 'red list' countries in Asia and Africa that the World Health Organization has urged wealthier nations not to recruit directly from because it could weaken their health systems. Wes Streeting, the health secretary, has repeatedly criticised the NHS for employing too many foreign doctors and said recruitment from 'red list' countries was 'immoral'. A separate section of the 10-year plan promises to 'tackle bottlenecks in medical training pathways'. It blames the last Conservative government for letting international medical graduates apply for places on the same terms as UK graduates. 'Undergraduate medical places have been expanded without a commensurate expansion in postgraduate training places, compounded by the 2020 decision to open competition for postgraduate medical training to international trainees on equal terms with UK-trained graduates,' the report says. 'As a result competition ratios for postgraduate places increased from 1.9 applications per place in 2019 to nearly five per place in 2024.' The plan says the government will work to prioritise UK medical graduates for foundation training and to prioritise UK medical graduates and other doctors who have worked in the NHS for a significant period for specialty training. According to the General Medical Council, 329,439 doctors are registered to work in the UK. Of that total, 188,492 (57.2%) were trained domestically, 25,886 (7.8%) in the European Economic Area – the 27 EU states plus Norway, Iceland and Lichtenstein – and the other 115,061 (34.9%) in the rest of the world, mainly Asia and Africa.
Times
36 minutes ago
- Times
Times letters: NHS to prefer homegrown doctors and nurses
Write to letters@ Sir, As a hard-working British medical student who will have benefited from six years of taxpayer-funded investment and education at UK medical school, I welcome the government's commitment to give priority to British doctors for NHS jobs (reports, Jul 1). Reform to relieve the bottleneck in access to specialty training programmes is long overdue. The plan recognises that solely pledging to increase the number of medical students is not enough to sustainably bolster our workforce. International medical graduates play a crucial role in supporting the needs of a desperately understaffed health service, but this should never come at the cost of stifling opportunities for homegrown SahUCL medical student; Warwick Sir, The suggestion of placing work coaches in GP surgeries will be met with dismay by many in primary care. Although the idea of supporting patients is to be applauded, how is space to be found for these coaches? With the rise in other supporting roles, including physiotherapists and pharmacists, over the past few years, practices are already struggling — and that is without any funding for the necessary increase in consulting space. Perhaps the only solution would be for doctors to undertake more remote working from home to free up space, reducing the number of face-to-face appointments — something that might not go down well with Jeremy SK Phipps MRCGPWothorpe, Cambs Sir, I represent the industry that supplies four out of five NHS medicines and welcome the news that the UK's two drug regulatory bodies (the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence) will collaborate to improve efficiency. Crucially, their task force must enable more patients to access appropriate medicines, regardless of whether the drug is new. As a result of competition, prices typically drop by up to 90 per cent when a drug's patent expires, saving the NHS more than £18 billion last year and meaning that the UK has the lowest drug prices in Europe. About 250 medicine patents are set to expire during this parliament, which, if adopted without delay, could save the NHS an extra £3 billion a year; just a day's delay in licensing an off-patent medicine can cost the NHS millions. Meanwhile, Nice continues to focus on high-cost, patented drugs because its funding model depends on fees from evaluating them. This structure is fundamentally unsuited to the generics sector that supplies most NHS medicines. Officials across Whitehall and NHS England are working hard to realise the full benefits of off-patent medicines, but looming budget cuts now threaten these very SamuelsChief executive, Medicines UK Sir, Your news report might give the impression that overseas qualified doctors are being employed in preference to UK-trained doctors. This could not be further from the truth (bar a few exceptions). Your article rightly notes the rising number of unemployed British graduates. This is entirely the result of the increasing practice of employing physician associates to undertake jobs that should be done by resident Arun BaksiEmeritus consultant physician,Wootton Bridge, Isle of Wight Sir, I totally agree with Robin Allum's letter (Jul 1) on Martha's Rule. I am a retired consultant radiologist, also with 50 years' experience in the NHS. During that time I was, for five years, responsible for the medical training and welfare of 150 junior doctors. In 1998 I was on a government committee to advise on the application of the European working time directive to junior doctors and their training. The government did not listen to a word of our advice . Thus a young doctor could fulfil all the 48 hours allowed over a weekend shift and have no hours left in the week for essential training on ward rounds, in theatre etc. The young doctors became very disillusioned and did not work as a team, as they had previously. Continuity of care was lost and also the camaraderie involved in teamwork. That working directive changed the face of medicine. Previously doctors had a separate dining room; they could eat a sandwich together and discuss various difficult-to-diagnose patients. That has all gone. As Allum says, the medical profession should be very grateful to the Mills and James families for the pressure to apply Martha's Rule. How sad that it has become Luck FRCRAscot, Berks Sir, Michael Johnstone (letter, Jul 1) may congratulate himself on asking for a table for two in full knowledge that he will be dining alone, and thus ensuring he will not be given an inferior table. But it is dishonest. And it denies the restaurant the chance to use that table for a genuine party of two and to increase its income in these difficult times for the hospitality industry — rather like paying for one train seat and then using a second seat for your luggage and denying a paying passenger a chance to sit down. His tactic may work once but he may well find himself, deservedly, asked to move right out of the restaurant the next time he tries it NeubergerLondon NW11 Sir, Further to Michael Johnstone's letter, I always feel it adds credence to my table for two if I order two glasses of wine on arrival. The second rarely goes to WilliamsAston Rowant, Oxon Sir, If Bobby Vylan's racist diatribe had contained the n-word or the P-word, we can be sure that the BBC would — rightly — have pulled the plug ('BBC boss left Glastonbury death chants on livestream', news, Jul 1). The BBC's apology is necessary but insufficient. The key point that requires both investigation and personal (not just institutional) responsibility is why a stream of anti-Jewish invective didn't trouble a single pair of ears within the large BBC production team at Wolfson of Tredegar KCShadow attorney-general; justice minister 2020-22 Sir, In his excellent comment article ('What's Starmer's big idea? He needs to tell us', Jul 1), William Hague says that 'the prime minister could stand up after a year in office and explain the world he has now seen'. Given that the gift of the gab may be not one of Sir Keir Starmer's sterling qualities, which communication channels would Hague suggest to the prime minister, in a world in which adults spend more time on their phones than watching television and reading newspapers? A prime ministerial broadcast monthly or quarterly perhaps? It must be more difficult getting messages and ideas, sometimes complex, across in a world of soundbites on social ChapmanLondon SE1 Sir, The letter from IH Piper (Jun 26) illustrates one of the core problems in maternity care: the belief that women's health issues can be fixed with a scalpel and a bit of surgical bravado. Forced episiotomy and repair are not the silver bullets he imagines. In fact, they sit among the reasons women feel traumatised and ignored by the very system meant to care for them. Those who think the answer to maternity failings is 'cut more, stitch better' have not been listening — to clinicians, to evidence and, most importantly, to women. His throwaway line about non-qualified staff also reveals the deeper rot: the devaluation of women's health, where under-resourced services are patched up with cheap fixes and the myth that technical interventions can substitute for compassion, time and trust. We don't need 'birthing technicians'. Rather, we need to support obstetricians and midwives, whose expertise in holistic, safe and respectful care is too often sidelined or Dalton MRCOGLeeds Sir, You report that players and spectators are struggling to hear Wimbledon's AI line calls ('Players call out whispering AI judges', Jul 1). I suggest a Dalek is employed at each court to announce the calls, as their distinctive diction is easily understood. Also, and to emphasise that they have called out, the Dalek should waggle its forehead-mounted exterminator. The umpire could be issued with a sonic screwdriver to adjust the volume as RileySandhurst, Berks Sir, Your report on healthcare advice in the Middle Ages ('First catch a lizard: beauty tips from the Middle Ages', Jun 30) calls to mind the writings of the Benedictine nun Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179). She suggested recipes for healthy eating, with recommendations that 'Butter should be eaten in moderation by those who are fat lest his weak flesh becomes fatter' and 'salt is good but not to excess' (Physica, Book 2), which seem ubiquitous in guidance on modern healthy living. Hildegard also extolled the benefits of camomile, but her advice to 'drink water with the dried liver of a lion as an aid to digestion' did not seem to catch on. Her recipes for 'boiling hedgehog with wine and cinnamon recommended for a good healthy supper' and 'earthworms mashed to a paste with wine, vinegar and flour for scrofula' are less appealing. She said slugs could be used if there were no earthworms to hand (Physica, Book 7).Dr Valerie ShrimplinSt Albans Sir, Further to Joanna Williams's comment article (Jun 30; letters, Jul 1), communications to clergy from our diocesan office seem more interested in net zero, church buildings and community events than in sharing the Gospel. Nationally, the fact that many of our bishops seem content in debates to jettison Christ's teaching suggests a lack of personal conviction about the core truths of Christianity. Inevitably, this leads to decline. But those churches that unashamedly teach Scripture — however counter-cultural this is — are bucking the trend, being attended by many of all ages. This is not down to great talent on their part, but simply the truth and power of the good news about PaineVicar, St Andrew the Great, Cambridge Sir, I read with interest Lucy Cavendish's article about Mounjaro and how it affected her family (Times2, Jun 30). I lost three stone over a couple of years using Dr Michael Mosley's advice simply to eat less. I followed a normal healthy diet involving fresh ingredients such as meat, fish and vegetables and ate less each day — eg, instead of two pieces of toast for breakfast, I ate one. I ate a light lunch such as soup and a sandwich and a normal evening meal. It was very easy, and as I cooked for my family they had larger portions. I avoided puddings and ate fruit but had a piece of dark chocolate with my coffee after supper. Much easier than taking Mounjaro and I am still three stone NaylorWivenhoe, Essex Sir, Researchers in Canada report that eating cheese in the evening may disturb your sleep (Jul 1). Charles Dickens, then, was ahead of his time when, in A Christmas Carol, Scrooge encounters Marley's ghost and tells him he doubts his senses, stating: 'A little thing affects them. A slight disorder of the stomach makes them cheats. You may be an undigested bit of beef, a blot of mustard, a crumb of cheese, a fragment of an underdone potato. There's more of gravy than grave of you, whatever you are!'Stephen BussSeaford, E Sussex Write to letters@
The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
Digital ‘one stop shop' for NHS will speed up care for patients, Government says
A new 'one stop shop' will showcase cutting-edge technologies to NHS hospitals while also slashing red tape, the Government has announced. The digital platform – MedTech Compass – aims to bring together technologies that are good for patients with an 'innovator passport' to cut the time firms spend on making repetitive data submissions to NHS trusts. The aim, set out in this week's 10-year plan for the NHS, is to get technology into the hands of NHS staff and patients quicker than before. Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting said: 'For too long, Britain's leading scientific minds have been held back by needless admin that means suppliers are repeatedly asked for the same data in different formats by different trusts – this is bad for the NHS, patients and bad for business. 'These innovator passports will save time and reduce duplication, meaning our life sciences sector – a central part of our 10-Year Health Plan – can work hand-in-hand with the health service and make Britain a powerhouse for medical technology. 'Frustrated patients will no longer have to face a postcode lottery for life-saving products to be introduced in their area and companies will be able to get their technology used across the NHS more easily, creating a health service fit for the future under the Plan for Change.' Writing in The Independent, Mr Streeting said the plan would put nursing at the heart of transforming the NHS, including training them on the latest technology and help 'shift our NHS from analogue to digital'. He said plans would cut red tape to enable nurses to start working on wards quickly after finishing training, faster payment of expenses and training in communities. The passport will be introduced over the next two years and will mean technology that has been robustly assessed by one NHS organisation can easily be rolled out to others. The Department of Health said this would remove 'needless bureaucracy' and create a 'dynamic best buyer's guide', while also helping boost economic growth. In on example, special wound dressings which are already cutting infections after surgery by 38% at Barking, Havering & Redbridge University Hospitals could be adopted across the country, the Department said. Meanwhile, at Barts Health Trust in London, the use of antimicrobial protective coverings for cardiac devices have cut infections and saved more than £103,000 per year. The Department of Health also said rapid flu testing at University Hospitals Dorset has cut the time patients spend in hospital alongside antibiotic use – something that could benefit other hospitals. MedTech Compass aims to make these innovations, and the evidence underpinning them, clearer to buyers within the NHS. Dr Vin Diwakar, clinical transformation director at NHS England, said: 'We're seeing the impact improvements to technology are having on our everyday lives on everything from smartwatches to fitness trackers – and we want to make sure NHS patients can benefit from the latest medical technology and innovations as well. 'The new innovator passports will speed up the rollout of new health technology in the NHS which has been proven to be effective, so that patients can benefit from new treatments much sooner.' Chief executive of NHS Providers, Daniel Elkeles, said: 'We welcome any measures which cut red tape and help trusts get proven and effective technology onto the frontline faster to boost patient care and free staff from time-consuming admin.' Professor Peter Bannister, medtech expert and fellow at the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET), said: 'This centralisation and simplification of adoption across the NHS will be welcomed by industry – including both large corporates and innovative UK small businesses – as well as by patients and clinicians. 'However, there must be clear evidence standards for manufacturers that recognise the diversity and health inequalities of the UK population, while the variation in digital readiness and workforce skills between different healthcare providers must also be factored in.'
