Wes Streeting is right to examine questions of overdiagnosis | Letters

John Harris is misguided in his criticism of Wes Streeting’s review of UK mental health services (The right’s callous overdiagnosis bandwagon is rolling. Wes Streeting should not be on it, 7 December). While this review will inevitably examine questions of overdiagnosis, Harris is wrong to imply that Streeting’s main motivation is political. There is nothing unusual, of course, about ministers making decisions based on political considerations, but there is rather more to the review than Harris indicates.It hardly needs restating that mental health services are grossly overstretched and underresourced, and an inquiry is necessary

As NHS braces for record flu cases, is the strain active in continental Europe too?

The NHS is bracing for one of its worst winters on record as a surge in flu cases puts pressure on GP surgeries, hospitals and ambulance services. The flu season is well under way in continental Europe, too, where the same flu strain active in the UK is emerging as the force behind a new wave of infections.In the northern hemisphere it normally runs from mid-November to mid-February, though it can start as early as October and run into May. Health officials call the start of the season when 10% of suspected cases test positive for flu. At the start of November, the figure in England was already at 11% compared with 3% at the same time last year

Tell us: how are you being affected by the rise in UK flu cases?

Flu cases rose 55% in one week in England this month, as the NHS braces for a “worst-case scenario” in the next fortnight as hospitals, GP surgeries and ambulances services come under intense strain.It comes as the British Medical Association has lined up strike action for resident doctors in England next week over concerns on pay.We want to hear from you.How are you affected by the rise in flu? Are you a patient who has become unwell, or have you changed your behaviour to try and avoid infection? Are you a healthcare worker dealing with the impact? What are your thoughts on the potential strike action?You can tell us about how the rise of flu cases is affecting you here.Please include as much detail as possible

Strikes could collapse flu-hit NHS amid worst crisis since Covid, says Streeting

Wes Streeting has told resident doctors that strikes and a sharp rise in the number of flu cases over the Christmas period could be “the Jenga piece” that forces the NHS to collapse.The health secretary said the NHS faced a “challenge unlike any it has seen since the pandemic” and urged resident doctors to accept the government’s offer and end their action.He said: “The whole NHS team is working around the clock to keep the show on the road. But it’s an incredibly precarious situation. Christmas strikes could be the Jenga piece that collapses the tower

Hospitals in England ‘face dangerous winter overcrowding due to discharge delays’

Hospitals in England face dangerous overcrowding this winter because even more patients than last year are “stranded” in a bed, according to an analysis of NHS figures.The health service is struggling to cope with the early onset of its usual winter crisis driven by a crippling “flu-nami”, while the NHS in England is bracing itself for a five-day strike by resident doctors starting on Wednesday.Hospitals will have fewer beds available this winter than usual because “delayed discharges” – beds occupied by people who are medically fit to leave but have nowhere to go – have been even worse in the run-up to the cold season than they were last year, research by the Health Foundation has found.Senior doctors and NHS leaders said the lack of beds identified by the thinktank would make an already “truly shocking” situation this winter harder still for hospitals. They said it would lead to ambulance queues building up outside A&E departments, patients facing long waits to be seen, widespread “corridor care”, an increased spread of the flu virus – and even greater risk that seriously ill patients would die because of delays in finding them a bed

Risk to women of severe bleeding after giving birth at five-year high in England

The risk of women in England suffering severe bleeding after giving birth has risen to its highest level for five years, prompting fresh concern about NHS maternity care.The rate at which mothers in England experience postpartum haemorrhage has increased from 27 per 1,000 births in 2020 to 32 per 1,000 this year, a rise of 19%.Last year had the largest number of incidents of postpartum haemorrhage in the five years since records began – 16,780 – despite the number of births falling in recent years, NHS England figures analysed by the Liberal Democrats also reveal.In comparison 15,780 occurred in 2023 and 15,230 in 2022, the year in which almost all trusts that provide maternity services began submitting data on postpartum haemorrhage to NHS England.The data cover incidents in which a woman has lost at least 1