GPs and their staff achieved a huge increase in face to face appointments last month – whilst also increasing the use of telephone, according to new data. GP leaders welcomed the data as giving the lie to claims that practices have been excessively cautious in allowing patients through their doors. The NHS Data figures show…

Overwhelmed hospitals in parts of the UK will face several weeks of growing pressure before the effects of this week’s new national lockdown are felt, a senior doctor has warned. Many hospitals are already busier than in the first wave, NHS England said, while doctors’ leaders called for assurances that NHS would be protected as…

I am a proud veteran of the Royal Navy and so last week, on Trafalgar Day, I was glad to receive information about a new NHS initiative that supports armed forces families. This new NHS England and NHS Improvements initiative is to look at how families of serving personnel, reservists and veterans access NHS services…

Patients are being put at risk by partial use of electronic medication systems, according to an official investigation. Electronic prescribing is being “poorly implemented”, leading to crucial information not being shared with practices and pharmacies, according to the Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch. It undertook the investigation after the death of a cancer patient who received…

GPs have voted to create England’s single largest clinical commissioning group, serving a population of more than two million. The new CCG ranges from Hackney to Havering, takes in seven CCGs and gained overwhelming support from local practices, the Health Service Journal reported. It will now share the borders with an integrated care system that…

Practices and local partnerships should get a share of the millions allocated to England’s “failing” test and trace system, a group of doctors say today. The budgets for the widely criticised service should go to local services, including primary care, local NHS laboratories and local public health services, the experts write in the Journal of…

Practices in Northern Ireland have been told to cease giving flu vaccines to patients under 65s because of “phenomenal” demand. Practices have been running clinics in church halls, community centres and car parks to comply with the government plan to extend the vaccination campaign this year. In common with other parts of the UK, the…