Dangerous shortage of medics threatens safe patient care in England, top GP says

GPs can no longer guarantee safe care for millions of patients because of a dangerous shortage of medics, Britain’s top family doctor has said.Prof Kamila Hawthorne, the chair of the Royal College of GPs (RCGP), said surgeries were desperate to hire more doctors to meet soaring demand for care but could not afford to do so because of a lack of core funding.Exhausted family doctors have been working “completely unsafe hours” because their surgeries did not have the cash to recruit new staff or replace those quitting, increasing the risk of serious errors or deadly conditions being missed, she said.“GPs will always push themselves to do what’s best for our patients, but we can’t go on like this,” Hawthorne said. “GP workload pressures are so pronounced that many of our members are telling us they are worried they can’t guarantee safe care when there aren’t enough GPs to keep up

Coroners’ prevention of future deaths reports should be legally enforced | Letters

Thank you for your article on how coroners’ prevention of future deaths (PFD) reports are being routinely ignored (Coroners’ advice on maternal deaths in England and Wales routinely ignored, study finds, 19 November).Experience has shown us that a coroner’s PFD report is issued in response to serious systemic failings and a trust’s inaction to prevent future tragedies. Tolerating poor care and refusing to learn seem to be shared features of health scandals, including the treatment of people with learning disabilities, such as our own beloved daughter, Juliet Saunders, who died aged 25.She died because the local hospital made a misdiagnosis and discharged her unsafely. The harrowing experience of the inquest was softened for us by the coroner seeing that Juliet was dearly loved and happy

Why thousands of NHS GPs are cutting their hours despite plan to increase access to doctors

Much of the health secretary’s plans to reinvent the NHS hinge on moving services from bed-blocked, overstretched hospitals to “neighbourhood health centres” where possible, and to general practice.However, while Wes Streeting hopes to make it easier for patients to see their doctor, thousands of GPs have been dramatically cutting back their surgery hours in recent years.Just one in 13 early career GPs now work full-time, according to NHS figures.A Guardian analysis of official data found that the typical GP works five hours a week less than they did in 2017. The number working full-time in England has fallen by a third

We know ultra-processed foods are bad for you – but can you spot them? Take our quiz

A major global report released this week linked ultra-processed foods to harm in every major human organ. For people in the US, the UK and Australia, these foods make up more than half the calories they consume each day.But it’s not always easy to tell which foods are ultra-processed.The term was coined in 2009 by researchers at the University of São Paulo, as part of their Nova food classification system that sorts foods into four groups:Group one: unprocessed or minimally processed foods including whole fruits and vegetables, milk, oats and rice.Group two: processed basic ingredients used in cooking including salt, sugar and vegetable oils

How could Reeves hit gambling firms – and are they fearmongering over impact?

Gambling companies don’t lose very often but nor are they usually playing a game of poker against the chancellor of the exchequer.At next week’s budget, Rachel Reeves is widely expected to announce an increase in the duties that bookies and casinos pay to the Treasury, ending months of speculation and frenzied lobbying designed to sway the government.The tax rise could cost the industry anything between about £1bn and £3bn, depending on how far Reeves turns the screw.To some, that would be fair recompense for an out-of-control industry grown fat on misery. To others, it would be an anti-growth tax that will backfire, costing thousands of jobs and fuelling the illicit market

Overseas-trained doctors leaving the UK in record numbers

Record numbers of overseas-trained doctors are quitting the UK, leaving the NHS at risk of huge gaps in its workforce, with hostility towards migrants blamed for the exodus.In all, 4,880 doctors who qualified in another country left the UK during 2024 – a rise of 26% on the 3,869 who did so the year before – figures from the General Medical Council reveal.NHS leaders, senior doctors and the GMC warned that the increased denigration of and abuse directed at migrants in the UK was a significant reason for the rise in foreign medics leaving.“It’s really worrying that so many highly skilled and highly valued international doctors the NHS just can’t afford to lose are leaving in their droves,” said Daniel Elkeles, the chief executive of the hospitals group NHS Providers.“We wouldn’t have an NHS if we hadn’t for many years recruited talented and valued people from all around the world