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Cardiff health board placed just below special measures

Cardiff health board placed just below special measures

BBC News5 days ago
The health secretary has increased oversight of Cardiff and Vale University Health Board to just below special measures.Jeremy Miles said there were "worrying cultural and leadership challenges" and the board clearly needed extra support.It comes after an internal report earlier this year found staff at the University Hospital of Wales had been involved in drug use, theft and other poor behaviour.Mr Miles also said the board's financial deficit had grown over the past 18 months, which has lead to the decision.
He also pointed to long waiting lists, with the health board now having the second highest number of people in Wales waiting more than two years for treatment.Miles said all these problems showed the board needed extra help."This will enable us to support the health board to develop and implement the necessary improvements," he added. He said the Welsh government would work with senior leaders to check if the organisation has the right skills and enough capacity, and "support them to appoint a team with the appropriate skills and expertise".Miles said there had been "positive developments" at the health board, but said the decision to increase measures was "the best way to support the health board".
On the same day an independent report highlighted numerous care failings in maternity services at Swansea Bay University Health Board, Health Secretary Mr Miles announced that both maternity and neonatal services at SBUHB would also be escalated to level four monitoring. Meanwhile, Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board remains under special measures. However, Mr Miles noted "clear signs" that the board is beginning to address many of its long-standing issues. He added there remained a "wide range of performance issues – especially with planned care and urgent and emergency care – which must be gripped urgently".
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University of Brighton nursing students to care for Lourdes pilgrims
University of Brighton nursing students to care for Lourdes pilgrims

BBC News

time4 minutes ago

  • BBC News

University of Brighton nursing students to care for Lourdes pilgrims

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Ministers urged to guarantee NHS jobs for new midwives amid understaffing
Ministers urged to guarantee NHS jobs for new midwives amid understaffing

The Guardian

timean hour ago

  • The Guardian

Ministers urged to guarantee NHS jobs for new midwives amid understaffing

A student midwife who fears she will be unable to get a job after completing 2,300 hours of unpaid placement work in the NHS is calling for guaranteed posts for newly qualified midwives who otherwise will be forced to abandon the profession before their careers begin. Aimee Peach, 43, is due to complete her training next summer, but says the promise of a job at the end of her three-year degree course has 'collapsed', despite severe shortages of midwives across the country. 'It is a waste of talent, training and public money, and the consequences will be felt by families across the country,' she said. 'There are so many of us that just want to work as midwives after three years of gruelling training, but we're having to face the fact that, after all this, there may be only a handful of jobs available.' Last month, a survey by the Royal College of Midwives (RCM) found that eight out of 10 student midwives due to qualify this year were not confident of finding a job after graduating despite understaffing in maternity care. Some services have had to close temporarily due to unsafe levels of staffing. According to the RCM, funding cuts and recruitment freezes have tied the hands of midwifery managers who are desperate to hire staff. Fiona Gibb, the RCM's director of midwifery, said: 'Report after report cites understaffing as a factor in the delivery of safe care, and midwives consistently share with us that there are too few of them to deliver the best care they know they can. 'Despite this, midwifery graduates face uncertainty, with too few vacancies for them to begin work upon qualification … The new midwives who are now ready are finding that the jobs simply aren't there.' Peach, from Bridgwater, Somerset, has combined academic study with on-the-job training and caring for her three children since beginning her midwifery degree. Student midwives must complete 2,300 hours of work placements and deliver 40 babies to qualify. She had hoped the qualification would lead to a higher household income and good career prospects as well as pursuing her commitment to improving women's experience of pregnancy and birth. 'It's been a pretty hard couple of years, both physically and mentally, but I had a goal in sight. No one chooses midwifery to have a comfortable job – you have to have a passion for it,' she said. That passion helped her through unpaid 12-hour shifts, sometimes at night. On occasion she has slept in the back of her car on her placement more than 80 miles from her home. 'After all this, we now face the scary prospect that we might not get jobs.' Earlier this month, Peach wrote to her MP, Ashley Fox, to draw his attention to the problem. 'A recent national search for band 5 [newly qualified] midwifery roles revealed just four vacancies across England despite an estimated national shortage of over 2,500 midwives,' she wrote. 'I have witnessed first-hand the consequences of understaffing and burnout in maternity services, yet thousands of qualified professionals are unable to secure employment. There is no shortage of qualified midwives, only a shortage of funded positions.' Peach asked Fox to back a call for guaranteed NHS jobs for newly qualified midwives, increased funding for maternity services and for student debt to be cancelled for healthcare workers who complete five years of continuous NHS service. Fox replied saying he would seek an opportunity to raise the matter in parliament. Gibb said: 'Having enough midwives, in the right places, with the right skills and training is fundamental to the safety improvements that are desperately needed across maternity services. 'We are calling on all four national UK governments to review their midwifery workforce planning approach and call a halt to the recruitment freezes that are preventing women and their families from receiving the care they need and deserve.' A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Care said: 'Student nurses and midwives like Aimee are our future workforce and it is unacceptable that they are unable to find roles. 'NHS England has set up a dedicated programme of work with employers, educators and trade unions to address this. 'We will revise the workforce plan later this year, to ensure the NHS has the right people in the right place, with the right skills to deliver the care patients need.'

Dozens of overweight and obese people complain they have been fat-shamed by NHS doctors - as one tells patient: Surgery will be tricky - you're carrying two suitcases
Dozens of overweight and obese people complain they have been fat-shamed by NHS doctors - as one tells patient: Surgery will be tricky - you're carrying two suitcases

Daily Mail​

time6 hours ago

  • Daily Mail​

Dozens of overweight and obese people complain they have been fat-shamed by NHS doctors - as one tells patient: Surgery will be tricky - you're carrying two suitcases

Dozens of overweight and obese patients have complained to the NHS, claiming they have been 'fat-shamed' by doctors. An investigation has found at least 74 complaints have been made to hospital managers across England in the past 12 months. In one incident, a patient said they were told they were carrying 'two suitcases' around with them, while another was informed by a consultant that the reason they could not see clearly was because their 'face was too fat'. Another patient was told to be careful rolling over 'because it is only a slim bed', while a doctor elsewhere told a female patient that 'middle-aged overweight women are my worst nightmare'. The dossier of complaints emerged from a Freedom of Information request and the true volume is likely to be much higher as most trusts were unable to disclose the number of incidents. Nearly two thirds of adults in the UK (64 per cent) are estimated to be overweight, while one in four is obese, according to figures. Excess weight is associated with a range of chronic diseases, including heart disease, cancer, type 2 diabetes, and liver and lung conditions. The Government has committed to an anti-obesity strategy which includes public health campaigns, the expansion of NHS services for weight management – including making weight loss jabs Mounjaro and Wegovy more accessible – and placing restrictions and higher taxes on unhealthy foods. Guidance to doctors advises using 'positive' language, and avoiding making assumptions about a patient's diet or lifestyle or anything that 'could be interpreted as moral judgment'. But it is a tricky balance – and some doctors are said to believe straight-talking can encourage many patients to take action. In May, former Great British Bake Off star Laura Adlington, 36, said she had been 'fat-shamed' by the NHS while trying to undergo IVF treatment. She described her experience, which involved being weighed in a corridor and denied tests because of her weight, as 'dreadful' and she subsequently went private. In one case, at Royal Free London Trust, a patient was told they were 'eating too much fast food' and to be careful turning over during an examination as 'it's only a slim bed'. At Salisbury NHS Trust a doctor told a female patient that they 'need to stop eating to lose weight', and then pointed at her mouth. The medic, who later apologised, added 'and then it won't go on here' – slapping the patient on the hips. A patient treated at Isle of Wight NHS Trust moved their care to another doctor after the first one allegedly told them that 'middle-aged overweight women are my worst nightmare'. At University Hospitals Dorset, one patient complained that a doctor had 'already made his mind up' about them based on an X-ray, and that 'the only way forward was to lose weight'. At the same trust, another person claimed they were denied a hernia operation because they were deemed 'too fat'. The NHS has spent £40million on specialist equipment for obese patients over the past five years, including beds, stretchers and chairs which accommodate larger people. Dr Martin Scurr, the Daily Mail's GP expert, said: 'This is something I feel very passionate about. We do have a problem in this country with pussyfooting around stating the obvious. 'Sometimes, in order to be kind you have to risk being cruel. The main thing doctors have to do is get the message across about the health issue.' But Sarah Le Brocq, from the All About Obesity charity, said: 'Obesity is a chronic condition – we wouldn't shame people for having cancer, so why do we do it for obesity?' Morrisons' £129-a-month fat jab club Supermarket giant Morrisons has been mocked by shoppers after it announced it had opened a £129-a-month fat jab club alongside its aisles of sugary treats. Customers are unimpressed it is promoting tirzepatide injections, or Mounjaro, which can help customers lose a fifth of their weight. One shopper Dave Carter said: 'It's genius really. The store sells you unhealthy grub that gets you fat, then wants vast sums of money to get you thin.' Another joked on social media: 'Stuff your face with a six pack of doughnuts, a multipack of Walkers crisps, a few sausage rolls followed by a tub of Ben & Jerry's – and then for the privilege of parting with £129 you might lose weight!' The clinic was announced a month after the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency launched a probe into the safety of jabs. Morrisons has more than 100 pharmacies and will raise the fee to £159 a month after the initial offer. It said its weight management medications were 'prescribed and dispensed responsibly'.

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