Elisabeth Mahase

High temperatures over the bank holiday weekend and early next week could see more deaths, particularly among over 65s, and increasing demand on the NHS, officials have warned.1The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has sent out health alerts covering every area of England, with amber alerts-the second highest warning level-issued for the East Midlands, East of England, London, South East, and West Midlands.Yellow alerts-the third highest warning-have been issued for the North West, North East, …

Three Red Cross volunteers have died in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) as the Ebola outbreak continues to spread rapidly and cases (suspected and confirmed) surpass 1000.The volunteers-Ajiko Chandiru Viviane, Sezabo Katanabo, and Alikana Udumusi Augustin-were all helping the Red Cross manage the dead bodies of Ebola victims.Their deaths occurred over 12 days, on 5, 15, and 16 May, respectively.1The World Health Organization's director general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, expressed his “deepest condolences” over the fatalities. “They paid the ultimate price on the line of duty,” he wrote.2Meanwhile British researchers announced they are producing an experimental jab for the Ebola strain behind the outbreak, which currently has no approved vaccines or therapeutics.According to the …

More than a dozen nurses, midwives, and nursing associates could be struck off after the nursing regulator admitted to failing to review issues affecting their ability to practice safely, such as their criminal records.1For 12 years the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) has inconsistently applied its vetting process for professionals applying to join or remain on its register, in what the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) union called “an astounding failure.”The RCN has called for an independent investigation to understand how and why the failings occurred and how they went undetected for so long.The NMC rules state that nurses and midwives are supposed to declare “health or character issues that may prevent them being able …

Resident doctors in England will return to the picket lines next month in their 16th walkout over pay and conditions, the doctors' union has announced.The strike will run from 7 am on Monday 15 June to 6 59 am on Friday 19 June, and the BMA has threatened “more strike dates in July” if no further progress is made.The announcement comes after talks broke down between the new health and social care secretary, James Murray, and the BMA's Resident Doctors Committee (RDC). BMA officials said Murray had made it clear that he would not put …

The Ebola virus disease outbreak rapidly spreading through the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and into Uganda could become the “deadliest on record” without urgent action, warns aid agency International Rescue Committee (IRC).The outbreak is caused by a rare Bundibugyo version of the virus, which has no approved vaccine or therapeutics, and is already the third largest Ebola outbreak on record. It is currently only behind the 2018-20 Kivu Ebola epidemic in DRC and the 2014-16 West African epidemic.However, experts have said the speed it is spreading and the current circumstances, with global aid cuts and ongoing conflict, mean it could soon move …

Routine prostate cancer screening has been rejected by the UK's independent screening committee despite significant pressure from the previous health secretary and campaigning groups.1After a review of the latest evidence the National Screening Committee's (NSC) final guidance recommended against broad population screening for the disease. However, it did support targeted screening of men aged 45-61 with a pathogenic BRCA2 gene variant every two years.How many men will fall under this targeted category is not clear, but experts estimate that it could be anywhere from a “few thousand” to 20 000.However, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has not ruled out the new health secretary, James Murray, overruling the recommendations and forging ahead with wider screening, something his predecessor, Wes Streeting, suggested was an option.Murray is meeting with the NSC chair, Mike Richards, on Monday to discuss the recommendations.There has been a major push for routine prostate screening in recent years by influential political figures and celebrities. In 2024 the then health secretary, Streeting, asked the NHS to …

Consultants in England are “quiet quitting” or looking to escape to Canada and Australia because they feel undervalued and disrespected, senior NHS doctors warn.Co-chairs of the BMA Consultants Committee Helen Neary and Shanu Datta spoke to The BMJ while senior doctors are being balloted on whether to take industrial action. Describing the frustrated mood of the profession, they warned that their colleagues are burnt out, “quiet quitting” - a term used to describe when someone mentally checks out of work - and looking for greener pastures abroad.With consultants and specialist, associate specialist, and specialty (SAS) doctors currently being balloted on strike action-and with resident doctors continuing to stage walkouts over pay and jobs - the government could see all secondary care doctors on strike this year.When asked whether residents, who have just announced another four day walkout,1 and consultants could strike at the same time, the co-chairs did not rule it out. But they added …

Doctors are being left exposed to legal claims by a “widening gulf” between the law and the rapidly changing use of artificial intelligence (AI) in healthcare, the Medical Protection Society (MPS) has warned.In its report Closing the AI Liability Gap ,1 the medical defence organisation said that doctors and the NHS were currently expected to absorb all legal responsibility for AI use in healthcare, while AI companies were “shielded.”Under the current legislative framework doctors could be held wholly liable if an AI suggestion turns out to be wrong and they have followed it, said the MPS. At the same time, if doctors “reject an AI output …

Doctors and health unions have urged the government to halt the development of the highly anticipated NHS workforce plan, warning that it is overly reliant on assumptions that AI will be a “silver bullet.”The concerns have been raised in an open letter to the new health and social care secretary, James Murray, signed by the Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM), Royal College of Nursing, BMA, Society for Acute Medicine, …

Thousands of young people across England, Wales, and Scotland will be offered the meningitis B (MenB) vaccine for the first time this summer.123Eligible students—those finishing year 13 this summer (aged 17 and 18), together with people under 25 starting university or other residential further education—will be offered two doses of the vaccine, at least four weeks apart, before they start further education this autumn.The programme is being launched after the major outbreak seen in Kent in March, which led to two deaths.4The Department of Health and Social Care described the outbreak as the “fastest growing and largest ever seen in the UK” but said there had …