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Patient Safety Learning

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  1. Patient Safety Learning
    Ambulance crews reached emergencies such as heart attacks and strokes one hour quicker in January than December in England, figures show.
    They took 32 minutes on average, compared with more than 90 the month before.
    The target is 18 minutes but January's average was the quickest for 19 months.
    A&E waiting times also improved, with just over a quarter of patients waiting longer than four hours - down from more than a third in December.
    But Society for Acute Medicine president Dr Tim Cooksley said wait times remained "intolerable".
    And he highlighted the waits the sickest and most frail were facing for a bed on a ward.
    Nearly four out of every 10 patients waited over four hours on trolleys and in corridors.
    "The fundamental problem remains a significant shortage of workforce, leading to woefully inadequate inpatient bed and social-care capacity," Dr Cooksley added.
    Read full story
    Source: BBC News, 9 February 2023
  2. Patient Safety Learning
    More than a third of delayed discharges for long-stay patients are being caused by factors generally associated with the NHS, according to new data obtained by HSJ.
    Delayed discharges from hospital are often blamed on issues around social care, but figures for the nine months to January, for patients who have been in hospital for at least 21 days, suggest a significant proportion are due to NHS-related delays.
    The most common reason is waiting for rehabilitation beds in a community hospital or similar facility, which accounts for 23% of total delayed discharges, based on daily averages.
    Other reasons generally associated with NHS-related issues included delays around medical decisions (4%), therapist decisions (4 per cent), transfers to another acute site (2%), and diagnostic tests (1%).
    On top of this, a further 12% of the causes were at least partly associated with the NHS, such as delays relating to transfer of care hubs, which are generally jointly run with councils.
    Read full story (paywalled)
    Source: HSJ, 9 February 2023
  3. Patient Safety Learning
    A law firm that routinely advises health service bosses faces claims it withheld evidence in a landmark NHS whistleblowing case.

    A judge has called for full evidence disclosure to assess claims that healthcare specialist firm Hill Dickinson acted fraudulently in a dispute over a lack of legal protection for NHS doctors in whistleblowing claims.
    The firm will now have to account for its actions in litigation that saw more than 50,000 doctors below consultant level in England deprived of legal whistleblowing protections, according to the junior medic at the centre of it, Chris Day. The case also had implications for 865,000 agency workers across other sectors – including construction.
    Read full story
    Source: ByLine Times, 9 February 2023
  4. Patient Safety Learning
    Exploitative and “underhand” marketing of formula milk is preventing millions of women from breastfeeding, according to a series of reports published in the Lancet.
    The reports, by 25 experts from 12 countries, including paediatricians, public health specialists, scientists, economists and midwives, finds that the commercial milk formula companies “exploit parents’ emotions and manipulate scientific information to generate sales at the expense of the health and rights of families, women and children”.
    Breastfeeding promotes brain development, protects infants against malnutrition, infectious diseases and death, while also reducing risks of obesity and chronic diseases in later life. It also helps protect mothers against breast and ovarian cancers. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends exclusively breastfeeding babies for the first six months and giving breast milk alongside solid food until the age of two or beyond.
    Over three reports, the series reveals how, more than 40 years since the World Health Assembly developed a voluntary international code prohibiting the marketing of infant formula, widespread violation of the code persists, with promotion of infant formula milk continuing in about 100 countries in every region of the world since the code was adopted.
    Read full story
    Source: The Guardian, 7 February 2023
  5. Patient Safety Learning
    Millions of people in England with mental ill-health are not seeking NHS help, and many who get it face long delays and a “poor experience”, a report says.
    Long waits for care will persist for years because soaring demand, exacerbated by Covid, will continue to outstrip the ability of severely understaffed mental health services to provide speedy treatment, the National Audit Office (NAO) found.
    The report found that “NHS mental health services are under continued and increasing pressure and many people using services are reporting poor experiences”. Under-18s, the LGBT+ community, minority ethnic groups and people with more complex needs are most likely to find the system inadequate.
    “While funding and the workforce for mental health services have increased and more people have been treated, many people still cannot access services or have lengthy waits for treatment,” the NAO said.
    It found:
    An estimated 8 million people with mental health needs are not in contact with NHS services. There are 1.2 million people waiting for help from community-based mental health services. While the mental health workforce grew by 22% between 2016-17 and 2021-22, the NHS recorded a 44% increase in referrals over the same period. In 2021-22, 13% of mental health staff quit. Read full story
    Source: The Guardian, 9 February 2023
  6. Patient Safety Learning
    The independent data watchdog has called for greater clarity from NHS England on how it will ensure there are “as strong… if not stronger” safeguards on health and care data following its takeover of NHS Digital.
    NHS Digital – whose role included controlling access to large amounts of NHS data – became part of NHS England on 1 February, and its teams and functions are due to merge in coming months.
    In an interview with HSJ, national data guardian Nicola Byrne said the merger creates “an inherent tension in having one organisation be both data custodian and the organisation seeking to access the data”, although it “makes sense in terms of streamlining and efficiencies”.
    Concerns have been raised about the merger’s information governance implications by campaign group medConfidential, the British Medical Association and politicians. These include that there would be less transparency over the handling of data, and that NHSE would be “marking its own homework” as both controller of, and a major user of, data.
    Read full story (paywalled)
    Source: HSJ, 8 February 2023
  7. Patient Safety Learning
    A Norfolk surgeon who left two patients with life-changing injuries has received a formal warning by a disciplinary panel.
    Camilo Valero Valdivieso was found guilty of "serious misconduct" by an independent medical panel after two operations went wrong in six days.
    One of his patients, Paul Tooth, 65, said his life was "a constant struggle" since his operation in January 2020.
    However, the panel found the surgeon had "learned from these events".
    The findings from the Medical Practitioners Service (MPTS) panel said that his actions had "risked damaging public confidence in the profession".
    It heard that he twice "misinterpreted the anatomy" - on one occasion severing a patient's gallbladder.
    The panel also concluded Mr Valero's fitness to practise was not currently impaired, allowing him to continue working.
    Read full story
    Source: BBC News, 7 February 2023
  8. Patient Safety Learning
    A mother who has seen her suicidal 12-year-old daughter shuttled between placements and then held in a locked and windowless hospital room says she is frightened for her child’s life.
    Since going into care in Staffordshire nine months ago, Becky (not her real name) has attempted to take her own life on several occasions. Her case throws fresh light on the chronic nationwide shortage of secure accommodation for vulnerable children.
    “I am constantly told there is nowhere for her,” said her mother, who cannot be identified for legal reasons. “I fear I’ll soon be arranging her funeral due to the systemic failings in health and social care.”
    Becky has been alone in a locked hospital room since 27 January. The room has no window or access to the outdoors, no furniture except for a bed, and she is permitted no belongings. All human contact is conducted through a hatch.
    The child’s court-appointed guardian told the high court at a hearing to discuss Becky’s case that she considered “the risk to Becky’s life to be catastrophic”.
    Read full story
    Source: The Guardian, 7 February 2023
  9. Patient Safety Learning
    NHS waiting lists are unlikely to fall in 2023, and the backlog is unlikely to be significantly tackled until mid-2024 despite being one of Rishi Sunak’s priorities for this year, research suggests.
    The NHS has struggled to increase the number of people it is treating from its waiting lists each month due to ongoing pressures from Covid-19, although there have been signs of improvement in the past month, analysis from the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has found.
    Max Warner, an IFS economist and one of the report’s authors, said that although the NHS had made “real progress” to reduce the number of patients waiting a very long time for care, efforts to increase overall treatment volumes had “so far been considerably less successful”.
    The NHS Providers’ chief executive, Julian Hartley, urged the government to introduce a fully funded workforce plan and to talk to unions about pay for this financial year as strikes were causing huge disruption to services, and risked undoing hard-won progress made on care backlogs.
    “Mounting pressures on acute, ambulance, mental health and community services, such as chronic workforce shortages, could hamper efforts to cut the backlog further if left unchecked,” he said.
    Read full story
    Source: The Guardian, 8 February 2023
  10. Patient Safety Learning
    Thousands of patients are being recalled for urgent eye checks after regulators raised safety concerns related to a product used in cataract surgery.
    It is thought around 20 trusts have suspended use of the EyeCee One lenses, after the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency warned of links to higher pressure in the eye, which can cause lost vision.
    The MHRA has issued an alert ordering trusts to recall patients who have had surgery since October, and estimates between 2 and 4 per cent of patients could have complications. The watchdog stressed reduced vision would only occur if patients were not treated.
    It is thought the complications could be down to the way the implant was being used in surgery, rather than the product itself.
    Read full story (paywalled)
    Source: HSJ, 7 February 2023
  11. Patient Safety Learning
    East Kent Hospital University Foundation Trust has been criticised for failures in services by the Care Quality Commission, after an unannounced inspection last month, years after major problems began to come to light.
    The Care Quality Commission has highlighted:
    Issues with processes for fetal monitoring and escalation at the William Harvey Hospital, Ashford. There had been “incidents highlighting fetal heart monitoring” problems in September and October, and the trust’s measures to improve processes were not “embedded and understood by the clinical team”; Slow maternity triage, due to staffing problems, and infection control problems at the William Harvey. The trust is reviewing how issues with infection prevention and control and cleanliness were not identified or escalated; and  Fire safety issues at the Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother Hospital, in Thanet with problems linked to fire doors and an easily accessible secondary fire escape route. Three years ago issues with reading and acting on fetal monitoring were highlighted at the inquest into baby Harry Richford, whose poor care by the trust led to an independent inquiry into widespread failings in its maternity services, led by Bill Kirkup.
    Read full story (paywalled)
    Source: HSJ, 6 February 2023
  12. Patient Safety Learning
    A record number of eating disorder patients are not getting the life-saving treatment they need due to lengthy waits, leaked NHS data shows.
    More than 8,000 adults are waiting to be seen for therapy, according to internal figures from NHS England – the highest figure recorded since data collection began in 2019. In March 2021, there were around 6,000 adults waiting, while it was less than 2,000 in March 2019.
    One leading doctor warned that delays were leading to avoidable deaths, while multiple coroners investigating the deaths of nine patients since 2021 have repeatedly called on the NHS and ministers to improve services to prevent more.
    An investigation by The Independent can also reveal that long waits have led to a woman, 24, taking her own life while waiting two years for appropriate care, and patients being admitted to hospital because their conditions became so severe they developed life-threatening physical conditions.
    Dr Agnes Ayton, the Royal College of Psychiatrists’ lead for adult eating disorders, said long waits meant patients were “dying avoidably” because under-resourced services were forced to turn them away or leave them waiting for years. Anorexia has the highest morality rate of any psychiatric disorder.
    “One important thing is eating disorders are treatable, people can get better with time and treatment. We shouldn’t accept anorexia has the highest mortality rate because a lot of these deaths are avoidable and treatable. We should be aiming to provide high-quality care,” she said.
    Read full story
    Source: The Independent, 6 February 2023
    Further reading on the hub:
    People with eating disorders should not face stigma in the health system and barriers to accessing support in 2022 Eating disorders: challenges of the pandemic  
  13. Patient Safety Learning
    A health board has apologised to the family of a patient after medical staff failed to consult with them over a decision not to resuscitate her.
    While the decision was clinically justified, the public services ombudsman for Wales said Betsi Cadwaladr health board did not discuss it with the patient and her family.
    The ombudsman, Michelle Morris, also upheld a complaint by the patient's daughter, identified only as Miss A, that her mother's discharge from Ysbyty Gwynedd in Bangor was "inappropriate" and that insufficient steps were taken to ensure her needs could be safely met at home.
    The final complaint, which was also upheld, was that medics failed to communicate with the family about the deteriorating condition of the patient, identified as Mrs B, which meant a family visit was not arranged before she died.
    In her report she said the Covid pandemic had contributed to the failings, but added "this was a serious injustice to the family".
    As well as apologising to the family, she asked that all medical staff at Ysbyty Gwynedd and Ysbyty Penrhos Stanley be reminded of the importance of following the proper procedure when deciding when a patient should not be resuscitated.
    Read full story
    Source: BBC News, 6 February 2023
  14. Patient Safety Learning
    Rana Abdelkarim died at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital in March 2021 after suffering a bleed post-birth.
    The Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch (HSIB) found there were delays in calling for specialist help.
    Her husband, Modar Mohammednour, said that in March 2021 his wife attended the maternity unit at 39 weeks into her pregnancy for what she thought was a routine check-up.
    Mr Mohammednour said due to language barriers his wife thought she was going "for a scan and to check on her health" and then "come back home", but in fact she was being sent to be induced.
    "Immediately" after the labour, Ms Abdelkarim suffered heavy bleeding and her condition deteriorated - something Mr Mohammednour said he was "unaware of", until he was eventually called into the hospital to speak to a doctor.
    According to the investigation by the HSIB, the obstetric team of senior doctors were not told about the drastic change in her condition for almost 30 minutes.
    An investigation into her death by the HSIB found that once Ms Abdelkarim had been given a drip to speed up labour, regular support from midwives and assessments could not be given to her because the maternity ward was so busy.
    It also found there was a 53-minute delay from the point of bleeding to administering the first blood transfusion.
    HSIB also found Ms Abdelkarim was "uninformed" about the reason for her admission, "consent to induce labour was not given" and because she was thin and small, staff underestimated how much relative blood volume she was losing.
    Read full story
    Source: BBC News, 7 February 2023
     
  15. Patient Safety Learning
    NHS staff are failing to follow guidelines for providing care to sickle cell patients - and some of the advice has been branded as “unfit for purpose”.
    The NHS Race and Health Observatory commissioned research, undertaken by Public Digital, to explore the lived experience of people undergoing emergency hospital admissions for sickle cell and managing crisis episodes at home.
    The Sickle cell digital discovery report: Designing better acute painful sickle cell care, found that the existence of service-wide information tailored by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has “arguably not been designed for an ambulance, A&E and emergency setting”, and states it has been proven that this guideline is “not being used and adhered to consistently”.
    Moreover, healthcare professionals have warned that the National Haemoglobinopathy Register (NHR) -  a database of patients with red cell disorders - is not being readily accessed, while patients reported being treated in a way that breached prescribed instructions.
    “We believe that sickle cell crisis guidelines could be improved in terms of their usability in a high-pressure emergency setting, and in terms of promoting access to them,” the report authors concluded, adding that current guidance should be adapted.
    Read full story
    Source: The Independent, 31 January 2023
  16. Patient Safety Learning
    Deadlock over NHS pay is putting patients in danger and risks hardening the position of unions, 10 chief nurses have warned.
    Unions have warned that the government is making no moves towards resolving the strikes, with one general secretary accusing the government of lying about the state of negotiations.
    In a joint statement shared with the Guardian, chief nurses from 10 leading hospitals known as the Shelford group highlighted their concern that patients’ health could suffer as a direct result of the increasing disruption the stoppages are causing.
    Tens of thousands of nurses and ambulance workers in England will stage what will be the biggest strike in the NHS’s 75-year history on Monday.
    In a plea to the government and health unions, but especially ministers, the 10 Shelford group chief nurses stress that they want both sides to end their standoff as a matter of urgency “because of the impact on the patients and communities we serve.
    “Industrial action means appointments cancelled, diagnostics delayed [and] operations postponed. The longer industrial action lasts, the greater the potential for positions to harden, waits for patients to grow, and risks of harm to accumulate.”
    This week will see just one day – Wednesday – when there are no NHS strikes. Nurses will strike again on Tuesday, physiotherapists will stage their second walkout on Thursday and ambulance personnel will stage a further stoppage on Friday.
    Read full story
    Source: The Guardian, 5 February 2023
  18. Patient Safety Learning
    Sickle cell patients are being put at risk because of a chronic shortage of specialist nurses to treat them, a damning new report has found.
    'The Difference Between Life and Death', a new study by the Sickle Cell Society, found that there are not enough sickle cell workers to deliver a good standard of care.
    One patient called Abi Adeturinmo told researchers that previous traumatic experiences caused by delays in receiving pain relief medication and poor care meant she “tries not to go to the hospital when in sickle cell crisis unless it is life-threatening”.
    Another patient, Araba Mensah, whose daughter has sickle cell disorder, said there was a lack of “hands-on” nursing, and said patients who have difficulties feeding themselves or with personal hygiene were “left to suffer unattended”.
    John James, CEO of the Sickle Cell Society, said: “While there are undoubtedly workforce challenges across all parts of the health system, the evidence in this report suggests that sickle cell is disproportionately impacted as a result of the legacy of neglect of sickle cell care.
    “On behalf of everyone affected by sickle cell, we are urging NHS England to take action now to ensure all sickle cell patients have access to the specialist care they are entitled to.”
    Read full story
    Source: The Independent, 24 November 2023
  19. Patient Safety Learning
    Plans to prevent one of the deadliest cancers for women in Jamaica have been significantly set back by the Covid pandemic, new figures reveal.
    The scheme to vaccinate schoolgirls against cervical cancer in Jamaica – which is the cancer with the second highest death rate in the Americas – began in 2018, but the Pan American Health Organization says inoculation rates fell to just 2.71% in 2021. This represents a drastic drop from the 2019 rate of 32%, and far from the WHO target of 90% by 2030.
    The cancer, which is curable if caught early, kills 22 in every 100,000 women in Jamaica. By comparison, in the UK the rate is 2.4 in every 100,000, and in Canada it is 2.
    Prevention of cervical cancer in Jamaica is also hindered by low rates of cervical screenings. 
    “Women are afraid of the screening process and potential pain, but there is also a fear of a cancer diagnosis itself,” said Nicola Skyers of Jamaica’s Ministry of Health. “Some people just prefer not to know. But I also think that healthcare providers don’t offer screenings often enough. If a healthcare provider is really ‘selling’ the pap smear, more often than not the woman will choose to have it.”
    Health workers are forced to focus on cures rather than preventions amid staffing shortages and an overburdened healthcare system, said Skyers. “As a doctor, you won’t be encouraging every women you see to do a pap smear if you have 40 patients waiting outside.”
    Read full story
    Source: The Guardian, 2 February 2023
  20. Patient Safety Learning
    Mesh campaigners claim Scotland's Health Secretary Humza Yousaf refused to meet them to hear their concerns. Patients blame surgical mesh products for leaving them disabled and in chronic pain and want the Scottish Government to hold an independent review into the use of the products.
    However, followihttps://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/mesh-campaigners-claim-humza-yousaf-29075491ng a debate in the Scottish Parliament earlier this month, the Health Secretary denied their request.
    Campaigner Roseanna Clarkin, of the Scottish Global Mesh Alliance, said Yousaf has refused several requests for meetings with campaigners spanning nearly two years.
    Roseanna, who has been left with crippling pain after mesh was used on her umbilical hernia in 2015, has blasted him for “ignoring” those affected by mesh procedures.
    From the late 90s until 2018, women in Scotland were treated with polypropylene mesh implants for stress urinary incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse. In some, it caused severe pain and life-changing side effects.
    While the Independent Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Review called for a pause in use of vaginal mesh, the products are not banned for all procedures.
    The Scottish Global Mesh Alliance were behind the petition calling for an independent review which was debated at Holyrood. They want to suspend the use of all surgical mesh and fixation devices while a review is carried out.
    Roseanna said: “Why do they assume mesh in another part of the body would respond differently and not cause extreme pain and serious infections?”
    Read full story
    Source: Daily Record, 29 January 2023
  21. Patient Safety Learning
    Every year, millions of people live fuller lives because of a medical device implanted somewhere in their body - from hip joints, to teeth, to heart valves.

    Known as Foreign Body Response (FBR), inflammation and scarring around an implant is natural, but in some cases, it can severely damage healthy tissue and can even lead to death if the implant is not removed. FBR-related implant failure rates range widely among different medical devices, but reducing those rates has been difficult because scientists still don’t understand the underlying biology that causes FBR.

    Now, researchers from the University of Maryland have discovered the molecular basis for FBR, identifying a key biological pathway that future drug therapies could target to reduce the risk of implant rejection.

    Shaik O. Rahaman, an associate professor in the Department of Nutrition and Food Science in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources at UMD, and his colleagues identified a specific cellular signaling system that kicks in when the body recognises the inherent difference in stiffness between an implant and the surrounding tissue. This system detects the mismatch and triggers inflammation and scarring, which is part of the body’s normal defense system. But in FBR, the signaling system can set up a cycle of chronic inflammation and continual scar-tissue build-up that leads to implant rejection.  

    “This is a huge leap forward in this field,” Rahaman said. “So far, the medical industry has been making biomedical implants randomly, out of materials they think might work without knowing the molecular basis of the foreign body response that leads to rejection. We don’t know why it happens, and until we do, we can’t effectively develop strategies to prevent it.”
    Read full story
    Source: College of Agriculture and Nature Resources, 19 January 2023
  22. Patient Safety Learning
    Commissioners have begun a ‘serious incident review’ across their integrated care system after early indications showed patients may have suffered harm due to long waits for cancer treatment.
    The review has been launched by Somerset Integrated Care Board into dermatology services after an initial review found five of 50 patients had seen their skin lesions increase in size since being referred to hospital by their GPs.
    ICB board papers stated “potential patient harm has been identified” for those patients, who were on the two-week wait pathway to be seen by a specialist following a referral by their GP.
    Read full story (paywalled)
    Source: HSJ, 3 February 2023
  23. Patient Safety Learning
    President Joe Biden has announced to the US Congress that he will end the country’s Covid-19 public health emergency on 11 May, although about 500 Americans are currently dying every day from Covid-19. He also plans to end the related national Covid-19 emergency.
    In contrast, the World Health Organization said on 27 January that the Covid-19 pandemic was still a public health emergency.
    The US administration’s statement said that extending the emergencies until May would provide time for an orderly transition. Ending the emergencies will mean that many Americans will lose the health insurance provided through the Medicaid programme, which helps people on low incomes and was extended during the pandemic. Many others will find that they no longer get free tests, treatments, or vaccines.
    Read full story
    Source: BMJ, 1 February 2023
  24. Patient Safety Learning
    Patients across the UK are set to benefit from access to safe, effective and innovative equipment and medical devices as part of the first ever medical technology (medtech) strategy published today.
    The blueprint for boosting NHS medtech will focus on accelerating access to innovative technologies, such as the latest generation of home dialysis machines that enable patients to manage their own health at home and in their day to day lives.
    It also sets out steps which need to be taken to ensure patients can access safe, effective and innovative technology through the NHS, which can help diagnose, treat and deliver care more quickly, freeing up clinician time. The NHS spends £10 billion a year on medtech including syringes, wheelchairs,
    Minister of State for Health Will Quince said:
    "The UK’s innovative spirit delivered revolutionary technology during the pandemic - from COVID tests and ventilators - and we want to harness this in promoting cutting-edge medical advancements to improve patient care.
    The NHS spends around £10 billion a year on medical technology and I’m looking forward to working with industry to use this as we focus on reducing hospital stays, enhancing diagnosis, preventing illness and freeing up staff time.
    This new medtech strategy will help build a sustainable NHS with patients at the centre so people can continue to access the right care at the right time."
    The key aims of the strategy are to:
    boost the supply of the best equipment to deliver greater resilience to health care challenges, such as pandemics, and enhance NHS performance through modernised technology which will enable faster diagnosis, treatment and ultimately discharge to free up hospital beds. encourage ambitious, innovative research to secure the UK’s position as a global science superpower and attract vital investment for the UK economy and create jobs across the country. In 2021, there were already around 60 different research programmes supporting innovative technologies, representing over £1 billion of funding. increase understanding and awareness of medtech by clinicians which will lead to more informed purchasing on new products and deliver better value for taxpayer money and better services for patients. build on the Life Sciences Vision to improve collaboration between the NHS, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) and the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) as an innovation partner to ensure patients can access the right products safely. Read full story
    Source: DHSC, 3 February 2023
  25. Patient Safety Learning
    More than 500,000 people in the UK will be diagnosed with cancer every year by 2040, according to analysis by Cancer Research UK.
    In a new report, researchers project that if current trends continue, cancer cases will rise by one-third from 384,000 a year diagnosed now to 506,000 in 2040, taking the number of new cases every year to more than half a million for the first time.
    While mortality rates are projected to fall for many cancer types, the absolute numbers of deaths are predicted to increase by almost a quarter to 208,000. In total, it estimates that between 2023 and 2040, there could be 8.4m new cases and 3.5 million people could have died from cancer.
    Cancer Research UK’s chief clinician, Charles Swanton, said: “By the end of the next decade, if left unaided, the NHS risks being overwhelmed by the sheer volume of new cancer diagnoses. It takes 15 years to train an oncologist, pathologist, radiologist or surgeon. The government must start planning now to give patients the support they will so desperately need.”
    Read full story
    Source: The Guardian, 3 February 2023
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