Ministers plan to use NHS app to expand clinical trials as part of UK-wide drive

The government is aiming for a significant expansion of clinical trials in the UK, and plans to use the NHS app to encourage millions of people in England to take part in the search for new treatments.Patients will eventually be automatically matched with studies based on their health data and interests, via the app. The plans envisage alerting them to the trials using smartphone notifications.NHS trusts that fail to meet targets on trials will also be publicly named, and the best performers will be prioritised for funding, as part of improvements designed to restore Britain’s global reputation for medical research.The strategy is one of the first to emerge from the government’s forthcoming 10-year health plan for England

My father died in a care home and all I got was denials and excuses | Letters

The situation at The Firs care home in Nottinghamshire, which was shut down in April, is dreadful for patients, families and staff (‘How did it get to this?’ What happens when care in a residential home breaks down, 7 June). But the Care Quality Commission (CQC) is not the only body to blame for failings like this.It can’t investigate individual complaints – this is mostly down to the local government and social care ombudsman (LGSCO), but also the parliamentary and health service ombudsman (PHSO). It depends on who funds the care; in theory the same care home could be dealing with two ombudsman staff unaware of each other. Both are equally damned on Trustpilot with overwhelmingly negative reviews

Young carer who unwittingly breached allowance rules forced to repay £2,000

A young carer who had looked after her disabled mother from the age of eight was forced to repay more than £2,000 when she unwittingly breached carer’s allowance benefit earnings rules after joining a government youth employment scheme.Rose Jones, 22, said she was twice wrongly advised by her jobcentre work coach that her wages earned under the Kickstart scheme would not affect her eligibility for carer’s allowance.Less than a year after she completed the six-month scheme, under which the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) paid her wages, she received a demand from the DWP demanding she pay back £2,145 of overpaid benefits.“I was shocked when the letter arrived – it came on my 20th birthday – and I really didn’t know what to do. I thought it was a mistake because my work coach had told me it was fine

Senior health figure accuses NHS of racism over care given to dying mother

A senior figure in the health service has criticised it for deep-seated racism after his mother “got a black service, not an NHS service” before she died.Victor Adebowale, the chair of the NHS Confederation, claimed his mother Grace’s lung cancer went undiagnosed because black people get “disproportionately poor” health service care.The NHS’s failure to detect her cancer while she was alive shows that patients experience “two different services”, based on the colour of their skin, Adebowale said.His mother, Grace Amoke Owuren Adebowale, a former NHS nurse, died in January aged 92. He highlighted her care and death during his speech this week at the NHS Confederation’s annual conference as an example of “persistent racial inequalities in NHS services”

People in Australia: tell us your experiences with IVF

After a second embryo implant bungle at Monash IVF, the entire industry is under new scrutiny amid concerns the for-profit model doesn’t always putting families first.Experts worry that clinics might be pushing extra IVF cycles that have little chance of working, and add-on treatments that lack evidence of their efficacy. There are also concerns that people don’t always understand how quickly their chances of a successful pregnancy drop with age.We would like to hear your experiences of IVF. Were you given an accurate idea of your chances of conceiving? Do you feel you were “oversold” extra cycles or non-essential add-ons? How much did you pay and could you afford it? Did Medicare cover part or all of your fee?You can share your experiences with IVF using this form

MPs back bill changes to prevent medics raising assisted dying with under-18s

Medics would not be allowed to raise assisted dying as an option with under-18s, and advertising it would be banned under changes backed by MPs before a final vote expected next week.The Commons voted on Friday on amendments to the assisted dying bill, which would legalise the option for terminally ill adults in England and Wales who have been told they have fewer than six months to live.The final Commons vote is scheduled for 20 June, with support and opposition finely balanced amid growing scrutiny of timelines, loopholes and who would ultimately deliver the system.A majority of MPs approved a clause tabled by the Labour MP Meg Hillier, an opponent of the bill, to ensure health professionals cannot raise the topic of assisted dying with under-18s.A separate amendment from Hillier to bar health workers from raising the option with adult patients before they have brought it up themselves was voted down