Media Monitoring: 8th – 15th October

The NHS Monthly Diagnostics data for August 2022 (can be found here)

The total number of patients waiting six weeks or more from referral for one of the 15 key diagnostic tests at the end of August 2022 was 461,400. This was 30.5% of the total number of patients waiting at the end of the month
Nationally, the operational standard of less than 1% of patients waiting six weeks or more was not met this month
Compared with August 2021 the total number of patients waiting six weeks or more increased by 92,300 while the proportion of patients waiting six weeks or more increased by 3.4 percentage points
The proportion of patients waiting six weeks or more at the end of a month has varied between 24.0% (February 2022) and 30.5% (August 2022)
The estimated average time that a patient had been waiting for a diagnostic test was 3.5 weeks at the end of August 2022
There were 1,512,200 patients waiting for a key diagnostic test at the end of August 2022. This is an increase of 151,000 from August 2021
A total of 2,006,500 diagnostic tests were undertaken in August 2022. This is an increase of 181,200 from August 2021

DHSC under secretary of state, Lord Nick Markham, makes first speech on life science

He confirmed he was going to outline how the Government would look to implement and follow-up on the Life Sciences Vision
The Govt. has committed to increasing R&D spending, with the Government committed £5 billion to the sector by 2024/25. The Government has also committed to raising R&D spending to £22 billion by 2026/27. This includes an investment of £340 million into Genomics England and £200 million in major new data programme for R&D
Improving on data in the NHS and clinical trials as well as delivering health missions which will look to draw private investment
Making sure the business environment is hospitable to inward investment, improving life sciences access to finance. Providing a strong pipeline to SME’s, through initiatives such as R&D tax credits and using investment zones

NHS set to boost GP workforce ahead of winter

Thousands more staff will be recruited to new roles in General Practice, so family doctors’ time can be freed up to see more patients during winter
More than one thousand GP assistants will be recruited to practices from this month to offer more admin support with the roles already proven to reduce the time GPs spend on tasks such as writing letters by more than two-fifths
Local areas will also recruit up to 1,250 digital and transformation leads across the country to help improve patient access to primary care

NHS finance chief warns of £7bn NHS shortfall next year

Julian Kelly has warned that crucial NHS care may have to be cut next year due to a £7bn budget shortfall
The shortfall is chiefly due to rising inflation causing supply price increases, increased NHS staff salaries and ongoing COVID-19 waves
He also stated during an NHS board meeting that this was in addition to the £14bn in efficiency savings the NHS needed to make over the next three years

£50 million to tackle health inequalities through research

50 million awarded to 13 local authorities across the UK – from Aberdeen to Plymouth – to tackle inequalities and improve the health of the public
The significant investment will enable 13 local authorities to set up pioneering Health Determinants Research Collaborations (HDRCs) between experts and academics to address knowledge gaps in local areas
This will enable new high-quality research into the local challenges affecting people’s health – such as facilitating research to better understand and introduce interventions to help with childhood obesity, COVID recovery, mental wellbeing and drug use

Gene test could save lives of seriously ill babies

Seriously ill babies in England will be able to be diagnosed and treated for rare conditions faster due to a ground-breaking genetic testing service
Using a single blood test, scientists can identify gene mutations, process them through a giant database and find the cause within days
Over 1,200 children and babies end up in intensive care every year. Until now, they had to undergo many invasive tests and with results often taking weeks to come back