Latest news with #DepartmentofHealthandSocialCare
The Independent
3 hours ago
- Health
- The Independent
NHS set for winter chaos as nurses and GPs threaten strike action
The Royal College of Nursing will ballot members for industrial action after 91 per cent rejected a 3.6 per cent pay offer, citing feeling 'deeply undervalued' and demanding improved pay and career progression. General Practitioners, represented by the British Medical Association, are also threatening strikes, with a September meeting planned to consider action over their role in the NHS 's 10-year plan and demands for contract investment. These new threats follow a five-day walkout by resident doctors, who were seeking a 29 per cent pay rise, which resulted in the cancellation of some vital cancer operations. The Department of Health and Social Care acknowledges the value of nurses but states they have received two above-inflation pay rises, while the Health Secretary has warned the British Medical Association against a prolonged dispute. The Royal College of Nursing emphasises that widespread vacancies, stunted career progression, and pay erosion are critical issues impacting patient safety, urging ministers to agree on a comprehensive investment plan.
Times
23-07-2025
- Health
- Times
Why furious health bosses are braced for painful battle with BMA
I n the Department of Health and Social Care there is unabated fury. The collapse of a deal to avert doctors' strikes this week has led to a big shift in approach. While Wes Streeting, the health secretary, accuses the British Medical Association (BMA) of 'complete disdain for patients', many around him have concluded the body's leadership are in fact too weak to persuade their members to back a deal. They only way out, they increasingly believe, is effectively to break the union, something BMA leaders warn would be 'counterproductive', scuppering hopes of cutting waiting lists and driving doctors away from the NHS. The anger is so great because government officials working over the weekend thought they had a deal that would at least postpone the strikes. While Streeting has refused to reopen a pay settlement, he was ready to promise a range of improvements to resident doctors' working conditions that would leave them thousands of pounds better off.
South Wales Guardian
22-07-2025
- Health
- South Wales Guardian
Government pledges to ‘transform care' for people with ME
The Department of Health and Social Care said it is 'committed to changing attitudes and transforming care' for people with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/ Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) as it prepared to publish a new plan to improve care for people with the condition. It comes after the high-profile death of a young woman from the disease. Maeve Boothby-O'Neill, 27, suffered with ME for a decade before she died at home in Exeter in October 2021 from severe malnutrition. Her inquest heard how she had been admitted to the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital three times that year for treatment for malnutrition. The 10-day hearing focused on the final few months of her life, by which time she was confined to bed, unable to chew food and had difficulty drinking because she was not able to sit up. Miss Boothby-O'Neill, the daughter of Sean O'Neill, a journalist with The Times newspaper, had been suffering from fatigue since the age of 13, which got worse after she completed her A-levels. Deborah Archer, now an area coroner for Devon, Plymouth and Torbay, concluded Miss Boothby-O'Neill had died from natural causes 'because of severe myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME)'. Last year she wrote to the Government to highlight a lack of specialist beds, 'extremely limited' training for doctors and lack of available funding for research and treatment of the condition. On Tuesday, the Government said that it has created a plan which 'outlines clear steps to improve care for patients, by investing in research and offering access to care in the community'. The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) acknowledged that many people with the condition 'currently struggle to access appropriate care tailored to their complex condition'. The plan, which is expected to be published on Tuesday, will include new training for NHS workers, DHSC said. And the document will also include funding for research, the DHSC said. Public health minister Ashley Dalton, said: 'ME/CFS is a debilitating illness that can severely limit patients' ability to participate in everyday activities, maintain employment, or enjoy family and social life. 'Today's plan will help tackle the stigma and lack of awareness of this condition through improved training for NHS staff. 'And through our neighbourhood health services, we will ensure patients suffering from the effects of ME/CFS can access quality care, closer to home, as pledged in our 10-Year Health Plan. But Action for ME said that the plan 'does not go far enough'. Sonya Chowdhury, chief executive of the charity, said: 'We appreciate the time DHSC has put into the delivery plan and their engagement with us and the ME community throughout. 'However, the plan simply does not go far enough. We are at the stage now where we need more than rhetoric, we need to take a strategic approach if we want a different outcome. What is proposed in the plan will not offer this. 'We must have a funded, dedicated research hub to leverage our world-leading life sciences sector to unlock treatments and ultimately cures for ME. 'Without a commitment to better co-ordinate research, people with ME will continue to be neglected, overlooked and, for many, confined to their homes. 'ME charities have been calling for this funding to be accelerated for years and we are still not seeing a strategic approach to address this historic shortfall. Once again, it feels like people with ME have been ignored.' Dr Charles Shepherd, honorary medical advisor and trustee at the ME Association, said: 'Whilst today's announcement is an important step forward in helping to improve the quality of life of people with ME/CFS, the Government must now go much further to improve their medical care and management and help to fund much needed biomedical research into cause and treatment.'
North Wales Chronicle
22-07-2025
- Health
- North Wales Chronicle
Government pledges to ‘transform care' for people with ME
The Department of Health and Social Care said it is 'committed to changing attitudes and transforming care' for people with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/ Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) as it prepared to publish a new plan to improve care for people with the condition. It comes after the high-profile death of a young woman from the disease. Maeve Boothby-O'Neill, 27, suffered with ME for a decade before she died at home in Exeter in October 2021 from severe malnutrition. Her inquest heard how she had been admitted to the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital three times that year for treatment for malnutrition. The 10-day hearing focused on the final few months of her life, by which time she was confined to bed, unable to chew food and had difficulty drinking because she was not able to sit up. Miss Boothby-O'Neill, the daughter of Sean O'Neill, a journalist with The Times newspaper, had been suffering from fatigue since the age of 13, which got worse after she completed her A-levels. Deborah Archer, now an area coroner for Devon, Plymouth and Torbay, concluded Miss Boothby-O'Neill had died from natural causes 'because of severe myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME)'. Last year she wrote to the Government to highlight a lack of specialist beds, 'extremely limited' training for doctors and lack of available funding for research and treatment of the condition. On Tuesday, the Government said that it has created a plan which 'outlines clear steps to improve care for patients, by investing in research and offering access to care in the community'. The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) acknowledged that many people with the condition 'currently struggle to access appropriate care tailored to their complex condition'. The plan, which is expected to be published on Tuesday, will include new training for NHS workers, DHSC said. And the document will also include funding for research, the DHSC said. Public health minister Ashley Dalton, said: 'ME/CFS is a debilitating illness that can severely limit patients' ability to participate in everyday activities, maintain employment, or enjoy family and social life. 'Today's plan will help tackle the stigma and lack of awareness of this condition through improved training for NHS staff. 'And through our neighbourhood health services, we will ensure patients suffering from the effects of ME/CFS can access quality care, closer to home, as pledged in our 10-Year Health Plan. But Action for ME said that the plan 'does not go far enough'. Sonya Chowdhury, chief executive of the charity, said: 'We appreciate the time DHSC has put into the delivery plan and their engagement with us and the ME community throughout. 'However, the plan simply does not go far enough. We are at the stage now where we need more than rhetoric, we need to take a strategic approach if we want a different outcome. What is proposed in the plan will not offer this. 'We must have a funded, dedicated research hub to leverage our world-leading life sciences sector to unlock treatments and ultimately cures for ME. 'Without a commitment to better co-ordinate research, people with ME will continue to be neglected, overlooked and, for many, confined to their homes. 'ME charities have been calling for this funding to be accelerated for years and we are still not seeing a strategic approach to address this historic shortfall. Once again, it feels like people with ME have been ignored.' Dr Charles Shepherd, honorary medical advisor and trustee at the ME Association, said: 'Whilst today's announcement is an important step forward in helping to improve the quality of life of people with ME/CFS, the Government must now go much further to improve their medical care and management and help to fund much needed biomedical research into cause and treatment.'
Leader Live
22-07-2025
- Health
- Leader Live
Government pledges to ‘transform care' for people with ME
The Department of Health and Social Care said it is 'committed to changing attitudes and transforming care' for people with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/ Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) as it prepared to publish a new plan to improve care for people with the condition. It comes after the high-profile death of a young woman from the disease. Maeve Boothby-O'Neill, 27, suffered with ME for a decade before she died at home in Exeter in October 2021 from severe malnutrition. Her inquest heard how she had been admitted to the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital three times that year for treatment for malnutrition. The 10-day hearing focused on the final few months of her life, by which time she was confined to bed, unable to chew food and had difficulty drinking because she was not able to sit up. Miss Boothby-O'Neill, the daughter of Sean O'Neill, a journalist with The Times newspaper, had been suffering from fatigue since the age of 13, which got worse after she completed her A-levels. Deborah Archer, now an area coroner for Devon, Plymouth and Torbay, concluded Miss Boothby-O'Neill had died from natural causes 'because of severe myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME)'. Last year she wrote to the Government to highlight a lack of specialist beds, 'extremely limited' training for doctors and lack of available funding for research and treatment of the condition. On Tuesday, the Government said that it has created a plan which 'outlines clear steps to improve care for patients, by investing in research and offering access to care in the community'. The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) acknowledged that many people with the condition 'currently struggle to access appropriate care tailored to their complex condition'. The plan, which is expected to be published on Tuesday, will include new training for NHS workers, DHSC said. And the document will also include funding for research, the DHSC said. Public health minister Ashley Dalton, said: 'ME/CFS is a debilitating illness that can severely limit patients' ability to participate in everyday activities, maintain employment, or enjoy family and social life. 'Today's plan will help tackle the stigma and lack of awareness of this condition through improved training for NHS staff. 'And through our neighbourhood health services, we will ensure patients suffering from the effects of ME/CFS can access quality care, closer to home, as pledged in our 10-Year Health Plan. But Action for ME said that the plan 'does not go far enough'. Sonya Chowdhury, chief executive of the charity, said: 'We appreciate the time DHSC has put into the delivery plan and their engagement with us and the ME community throughout. 'However, the plan simply does not go far enough. We are at the stage now where we need more than rhetoric, we need to take a strategic approach if we want a different outcome. What is proposed in the plan will not offer this. 'We must have a funded, dedicated research hub to leverage our world-leading life sciences sector to unlock treatments and ultimately cures for ME. 'Without a commitment to better co-ordinate research, people with ME will continue to be neglected, overlooked and, for many, confined to their homes. 'ME charities have been calling for this funding to be accelerated for years and we are still not seeing a strategic approach to address this historic shortfall. Once again, it feels like people with ME have been ignored.' Dr Charles Shepherd, honorary medical advisor and trustee at the ME Association, said: 'Whilst today's announcement is an important step forward in helping to improve the quality of life of people with ME/CFS, the Government must now go much further to improve their medical care and management and help to fund much needed biomedical research into cause and treatment.'
