Gareth Iacobucci

The Amos review of maternity services continues to be marred by controversy, with the government’s own national maternity adviser now demanding answers to why key references to “normal birth” ideology were removed at the last minute.In a letter published on X, Labour MP Michelle Welsh, who was recently appointed as the government’s first national maternity adviser, said she was “shocked and profoundly disappointed” at the reports and urged the government and Valerie Amos to explain why references were removed.1Amos’s national review, which aimed to drive improvements to maternity services after a series of scandals, has faced much criticism from bereaved families since it was published earlier this week.23Concerns grew after it emerged that Bill Kirkup, who led previous investigations into the Morecambe Bay and East Kent maternity scandals, stepped down as expert adviser to the Amos review mere hours before the review was …

GPs in England have been urged to reject unfunded new requests from hospitals to transfer prescribing and monitoring responsibilities for a patient to practices.The move is the latest phase of the collective action being coordinated by the BMA’s General Practitioners Committee for England (GPCE), after the GP contract for 2026-27 was rejected in March.1Previous phases of the dispute focused on stopping voluntary sharing of “non-essential” patient data for secondary uses with third parties and removing or ignoring any non-contractual medicines optimisation software for new prescriptions. 23The latest action focuses on “shared care agreements”—voluntary pathways developed by local NHS systems that set out how hospital specialist treatment may be transferred from the hospital specialist to …

Clare Bannon has been elected as the new chair of the BMA’s General Practitioners Committee for England (GPC England).Bannon, a GP in Barnsley and former deputy chair of GPC England, will succeed outgoing chair Katie Bramall, who opted not to stand for re-election after her three year term ended.Contested seats for deputy officers will be announced in due course, the committee said.Bannon has been a member of GPC England since 2021. During this time she has served as deputy chair and as its policy lead for clinical and prescribing, and practice …

UK patients can now buy the daily pill version of semaglutide (Wegovy) for weight loss.The pill is available privately for patients to buy from high street pharmacies and online chemists. It is not yet accessible on the NHS as it first needs to be evaluated by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) for cost effectiveness.The oral form of semaglutide is the first glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist pill to be approved by the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) for weight loss and weight management in the UK.1Until now, the drug, manufactured by Danish pharma company Novo Nordisk, has been available only in injectable form in the UK for weight loss. However, oral semaglutide is already approved in the UK for treating type 2 diabetes under the brand name Rybelsus.2The MHRA has authorised the semaglutide tablet to treat adults in the UK with obesity who have a BMI ≥30, or those who are overweight with a BMI of 27-30 and have at least one weight related comorbidity—alongside a reduced calorie diet and increased physical activity.As with its injectable …

Consultants in England have voted to take industrial action as part of a dispute with the government over pay and conditions.In a BMA ballot that closed yesterday 76% of consultants (13 695) voted yes on taking strike action and 24% (4369) said no. Five returned ballot papers were spoiled or otherwise invalid.Turnout was 52% (18 069 of 35 067 consultants in England eligible to vote).Consultants are calling for an improved offer on pay alongside wider changes to improve working conditions, including more protected teaching and learning, a reduction in standard hours, and better recognition for work done out of hours.1The result means consultants now have a …

NHS England’s chief executive has told MPs he would support an independent review of the effectiveness of Palantir’s controversial NHS contract.Jim Mackey’s comments to the House of Commons Health and Social Care Committee came amid growing scrutiny over the purported benefits of Palantir’s federated data platform (FDP).This comes after NHS England tacitly admitted last month that claims made about the benefits of FDP weren’t backed up by robust data.1Video 1 Jim Mackey before the House of Commons Health and Social Care CommitteeMackey’s comments came as the cross party committee urged the government to cut ties with Palantir, citing public concern about data security, doubts about the FDP’s efficacy, and the availability of alternative solutions.Giving evidence to the committee on 8 July, Mackey said he had “raised challenges personally” over whether NHS England’s assessments of the US tech company’s software have been “objective and can be fully stood up if challenged.”He added he would support an independent review …

An adult in England has died from measles, bringing the total number of fatalities from the disease so far this year to three.The fatality, which officials said occurred in an adult with an underlying immunological problem, follows the deaths of two children in June.Latest figures from the UK Health Security Agency show 883 confirmed measles cases reported in England so far this year, up to 6 July. In 2025 there were 959 confirmed measles cases across …

An “aggressive” drive by NHS England to remove so called “ghost patients” from GP lists is posing an “existential threat” to practices and could even force closures, family doctors have warned.“Ghost patients” are those who remain on a practice patient list for some time despite having moved or died, because of the practice not being notified.The BMA estimated that over 344 000 such patients have been stripped from practice lists across England in the past year since the health service launched a targeted drive to accelerate removals.1But because funding for general practices is based on the size of their patient lists, the BMA has warned that such cleansing is not without consequence. The union estimated that 344 000 patients being removed equates to practices losing just under £40m in core funding for GP services at a time when practices are more financially stretched than ever, it warned.Under the process of list cleansing, NHS England sends letters …

The UK is raising one of the unhealthiest generations of children in decades, with progress stalling or declining across all key metrics of child health, a landmark report warns.1The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health’s (RCPCH) State of Child Health 2026 report says that it is a “national embarrassment” that the UK lags firmly behind other European nations in all areas of health, ranging from infant mortality and mental health to obesity, immunisation, and asthma.While the Labour government has pledged to create the “healthiest and happiest generation ever in Britain,” this will not be achieved without “significant change” in policy, the report warns.The report assessed child health across 12 indicators, using national data, clinical expertise, and policy evidence to identify trends, inequalities, and priorities for action. It concludes that widening inequalities, with poor data collection making it difficult to measure trends and develop evidence based …

Plans to slash £16.7m in funding for clinical academics in universities will be “disastrous” for medical education, the doctors’ union has warned.The BMA, alongside the British Dental Association, has now written to the secretary of state for education, Bridget Phillipson, outlining its concerns over the planned reductions.Announced 6 July, the reductions include cuts of £15.8m to consultant clinical academic pay and £900 000 to senior academic general practitioner pay.The letter noted that this funding supports pay parity between NHS practitioners and medical and dental academics with “a long standing …