UK hospitals bracing for once-in-a-decade flu surge this winter

Hospitals are bracing for a once-in-a-decade flu season, with a mutated version of the virus that is spreading widely in younger people expected to drive a wave of admissions when it reaches the elderly.The threat has prompted NHS managers to redouble efforts to vaccinate staff and communities, expand same-day emergency care and treat more patients in the community to reduce the need for hospital stays.As resident doctors in England continue a five-day strike over pay, hospitals are turning to contingency plans to bring in consultants and other staff for extra shifts and reschedule appointments where necessary.“Last flu season was particularly nasty and we’re very concerned that this year could be even worse,” said Elaine Clancy, the group chief nursing officer for St George’s, Epsom and St Helier university hospitals. “We’re preparing for a spike of flu on to our wards

Resident doctors begin five-day strike in latest walkout over pay

Thousands of resident doctors have begun strike action across England in a dispute over pay.The five-day action, which began at 7am on Friday, is the 13th walkout by doctors since March 2023 and health leaders have warned that the NHS may have to cut frontline staff and offer fewer appointments and operations if the strikes continue.The NHS Confederation and NHS Providers, which represent health trusts, said continued action was piling pressure on already-stretched budgets. The last industrial action in July was estimated to have cost the health service £300m.Patients would be forced to wait longer for care, and many may no longer be able to work without the treatment they needed, they said

New AI tool could cut wasted efforts to transplant organs by 60%

Doctors have developed an AI tool that could reduce wasted efforts to transplant organs by 60%.Thousands of patients worldwide are waiting for a potentially life-saving donor, and more candidates are stuck on waiting lists than there are available organs.Recently, in cases where people need a liver transplant, access has been expanded by using donors who die after cardiac arrest. However, in about half of these donations after circulatory death (DCD) cases, the transplant ends up being cancelled.That is because the time between the removal of life support and death must not exceed 45 minutes

Peers to mount fresh offensive to halt assisted dying bill

Peers will mount a new offensive to halt the assisted dying bill on Friday, tabling almost 1,000 new amendments to the legislation in an effort to run down the clock.More than half of the 942 amendments have been tabled by just seven members of the House of Lords, all of them vocal opponents of assisted dying (AD). A source close to the bill said it was possible it could in effect get filibustered if peers pushed many amendments to a vote.The bill – which began as a private member’s bill from Labour MP Kim Leadbeater – passed the House of Commons in June and is now in the House of Lords.On Thursday night, 65 peers including two cabinet secretaries, the former Labour leader Neil Kinnock and the former Tory leader Ruth Davidson warned that it would be anti-democratic for the Lords to kill the bill after it had been passed by a reasonable majority in the Commons

Hospital consultants gearing up to join resident doctors in striking over pay

Hospital consultants are gearing up to join resident doctors in striking over pay in a move that could cause huge disruption for the NHS and present ministers with a major new headache.In addition, resident doctors – who will tomorrow embark on their latest strike – have decided to adopt a more militant approach in pursuit of their 26% pay claim in which they strike every month, to put pressure on the government.In a hardening of their tactics, resident – formerly junior – doctors will stage a walkout every month in 2026 if, as they expect, they get a fresh legal mandate to continue their long-running campaign of industrial action. They went on strike 11 times in 15 months between March 2023 and June 2024 but only once since, in July this year.Thousands of them will take part in what will be the 13th strike of their campaign, starting at 7am on Friday and running until 7am on Wednesday 19 November

Steve Reed convenes Tower Hamlets envoys as concerns over council persist

The communities secretary, Steve Reed, has called a meeting with officials overseeing the running of Tower Hamlets council as concerns about the governance of the east London authority continue.Envoys were sent to Tower Hamlets after a team of government-commissioned inspectors published a report last November that uncovered a “toxic” and secretive culture dominated by the inner circle of the local mayor, Lutfur Rahman.It is understood Reed plans to meet the envoys to discuss their work so far, and to find out whether they think there has been sufficient change in the council and what else could be done.Rahman, a former Labour leader of the council, first became mayor in 2010 as an independent. He was removed from office in 2015 and banned for five years from standing for mayor after an election commissioner found him guilty of electoral fraud