Head of NHS England ‘really worried’ about medicine supplies

The head of the NHS in England has said he is “really worried” about medicine supply issues.A number of experts have raised concerns about cost implications and supply disruption linked to the war in Iran.The NHS England chief executive, Jim Mackey, was asked during a phone-in on LBC Radio on Tuesday what contingency planning was in place because “the UK imports 75% of its medicine”. He said: “We are really worried about this. We’ve already had a couple of supply shocks in the last 12 to 18 months of key supplies

Three hospital doctors’ groups threaten to coordinate strike action in England

The NHS’s three main groups of hospital doctors in England are threatening to coordinate strike action in a dramatic escalation of their campaign for higher pay.The British Medical Association said on Tuesday it would ballot consultants, and specialist, associate specialist and speciality (SAS) medics about joining resident doctors in taking strike action aimed at improving their earnings.“Should the ballots be successful, the government risks having all doctors working in secondary [hospital] care in England taking industrial action during the same period,” the BMA said.Consultants want better pay and shorter hours, while SAS doctors are seeking increased basic pay, improved overtime rates, more annual leave and better career opportunities.Resident – formerly junior – doctors are due to start a six-day strike next Tuesday, 7 April, just after the Easter weekend

‘Should never have been prescribed’: private UK cannabis clinics face call for tighter regulation

Oliver Robinson felt he had exhausted conventional therapies when he left the Priory, a private mental health facility where he was treated for depression and addiction between 2019 and 2022. Initially he found relief from a new kind of prescription elsewhere. But by the time he took his own life in November 2023, aged 34, his family believe his medicine was making him worse.In January, an inquest concluded that Robinson’s prescription for medicinal cannabis had “probably contributed to his death”. Catherine McKenna, the coroner for Manchester North, also ruled that his continued use of the prescription, first issued to him in May 2022 by Curaleaf Clinic, a private cannabis provider, “acted as an obstacle” to him receiving appropriate psychiatric and addiction care

‘Everybody’s making money’: how two backstreets become the vape capital of Britain

In Cheetham Hill, Manchester, there are more than 50 shops specialising in vapes and vaping paraphernalia. Why did they open here? And how long can they last?I meet Ali outside his tiny wholesale business, Fly Vape – the store name combined with the image of a vape bookended by angel wings appears on the shopfront. In place of a halo is a cloud of vapour. The softly spoken 40-year-old says that working in the vape trade is “OK, better than nothing”. He opened Fly Vape just over two years ago, selling vaping products to small retailers such as convenience stores

Keir Starmer gives resident doctors 48 hours to call off strike or lose training offer

Keir Starmer has threatened to withdraw an offer of thousands of extra NHS training posts if resident doctors in England do not call off a six-day strike after Easter.The prime minister has given the doctors’ union, the British Medical Association, 48 hours to ditch its plans for industrial action or the government will pull the current offer from the table.Last week, the BMA resident doctors’ committee rejected an offer that would have given doctors a pay rise of up to 7.1% this year, without putting it to members for a vote.Writing in the Times, Starmer labelled the BMA’s rejection of the deal “reckless” and said it “benefits no one”

Vaping likely to cause lung and oral cancer, Australian researchers find in new review of evidence

Vaping is likely to cause lung and oral cancer, researchers have found, as they urged regulators to act now rather than wait decades for a definitive level of risk.Cancer researchers led by the University of New South Wales in Sydney analysed reviews of evidence from animal studies, human case reports and laboratory research published between 2017 and 2025, in one of the most detailed assessments to date of whether nicotine e-cigarettes could cause cancer.There are early warning signs in the body strongly linked to cancer risk, including DNA damage and inflammation, co-author Adjunct Prof Bernard Stewart said. The review, published in the journal Carcinogenesis on Tuesday, found vaping is associated with these pre-carcinogenic changes.“There is no doubt that the cells and tissues of the oral cavity, the mouth and the lungs are altered by inhalation from e-cigarettes,” Stewart said