Media Monitoring: 16 – 23 April

A new NHS survey of 2,000 Brits found that only 4 in 10 (39%) look for changes to their bodies at least once every 3 weeks – despite this being vital in spotting potential signs of cancer.
The results found people are more likely to regularly check their bank balance (80%), the weather forecast (70%), sport results (42%) and upcoming entertainment such as TV shows (41%), than they are to check for changes in their body.
The NHS advises people to regularly check for any new lumps or unexpected changes in the body to help identify any possible symptoms of cancer.

Patients’ satisfaction with GP services has collapsed in recent years as family doctors have switched to providing far fewer face-to-face appointments, new research has revealed.
The proportion of patients seeing a GP in person has plummeted from more than four-fifths (80.7%) in 2019 to just under two-thirds (66.2%) last year.
Telephone appointments have almost doubled over the same period from 13.4% to 25.4%. Those undertaken by video or online, including some in which patients fill in an online form but have no direct interaction with a GP, have risen almost eightfold from 0.6% to 4.6%.

A report on funding from UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), shows that Northern Ireland has seen a bigger percentage increase (43%) than elsewhere in the UK.
Half of UKRI’s investment in research projects last year was made to organisations outside London and the South East, the highest proportion ever.
This represents a cumulative additional £1.4 billion invested outside the Greater South East since 2021 to 2022.

Prof Rory Collins, CEO of UK Biobank, responds to concerns about access to UK patient information, highlighting the safeguards and research benefits.

This IPPR report details the think tank’s diagnosis for health reform in the NHS.