RECENT NEWS

Alder Hey Children’s Hospital has become the first hospital in Europe to install a ground-breaking 3-Tesla MRI research scanner, a major step forward for medical research in the region and beyond. This state-of-the-art scanner is only the second of its kind in the world and will provide faster, more detailed imaging and improve patient comfort. It will primarily support research and will be used to improve diagnosis and treatment for patients of all ages, from newborns to older adults.

New analysis reveals the UK health service is spending record amounts on outsourcing scans to be read by private companies amid a chronic shortage of clinical radiologists, while diagnostic waiting time targets continue to be missed.

Thousands of people in England have had lung cancer caught early thanks to NHS scanning trucks in supermarket car parks, sports stadiums and busy high streets. New NHS data shows 10,678 lung cancers have been detected through the programme since it began – more than three quarters of which were caught at stages one or two.

As the UK Government refreshes its Women’s Health Strategy, a new nationally representative survey of 2,000 UK adults from the Health Tech Alliance (HTA), run by Clarity Global, reveals a serious disconnect between national policy and patient reality.

A new national framework designed to support the standardisation and expansion of advanced therapy clinical trials has launched. The Advanced Therapy Clinical Trials Capability Framework, produced jointly by the Advanced Therapy Treatment Centre (ATTC) network, the Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult and Skills for Health, provides a shared strategic resource to support decision making across advanced therapy clinical trials services.

A new webinar will provide an insight into how clinicians can stop infections at source. Taking place on Tuesday 2nd June 2026 from 15:00–16:00 BST, the session will examine how colonisation of the nose and skin can act as an upstream driver of healthcare associated infections.

A free webinar for early-stage innovators will invite them to share in vital learnings, helping them to map the right support for best navigating their ideas from development to commercial success.

British Medical Auctions (BMA) is celebrating its 10th anniversary in 2026, marking a decade of innovation in medical asset remarketing and sustainable equipment reuse. Today, over 65% of UK NHS Hospitals, more than 85% of NHS Ambulance Services and all major UK private healthcare groups use BMA’s services.

A ‘deadly mix’ of collapsing growth in the registered nurse workforce and increasingly complex patient needs are leaving staff struggling to keep people safe, as a quarter say registered nurse numbers are so far below what is required that there is now a ‘high risk’ of harm on shift.

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has condemned health leaders and politicians for allowing racism to ‘flourish’ in the NHS, after new figures show more than 21,000 incidents of racist abuse were reported by nursing staff across the UK over the last four years, surging by 78% in that time.

The NHS has hit its target for the number of patients waiting 18-weeks thanks to huge improvements in waiting times. In March, 65.3% of patients were waiting 18-weeks, as the waiting list fell by over 312,000 last year, the largest year-on-year reduction in 16 years.

Women and families failed by maternity services will be better heard and their experiences will drive lasting improvements to care, as Michelle Welsh MP has been appointed as the government’s first Maternity Adviser. Welsh will work directly with families, the government, the NHS and key maternity organisations to push for better, safer care for mothers, babies and families.

​NHS Trusts across England could spend more than £13.5 million in 2026 correcting data problems that emerge after hospitals transition to a new electronic patient record (EPR) system, according to a new analysis launched by healthcare data specialists, MBI Health.

Health Secretary, Wes Streeting, has resigned saying he has "lost confidence" in Keir Starmer's leadership. In a letter to the prime minister, he said: "Where we need vision, we have a vacuum. Where we need direction, we have drift".

Doctors who have come to the UK to escape war and persecution took a step towards rebuilding their medical careers in the UK on Saturday (25 April) at an event hosted by the UK’s medical regulator. The ‘Building Bridges’ event, organised by the Refugee Council and hosted by the General Medical Council (GMC) in London, brought together refugee doctors from across the world determined to restart their professional journeys and contribute their skills to the NHS.

New pre-market regulatory requirements for medical devices and in vitro diagnostic devices entering the GB market have been published by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) on the World Trade Organisation notification portal.

Scotland’s new cohort of innovative participants for the NHS Clinical Entrepreneur Programme (CEP) has been selected – and a prestigious pitching event is set to welcome them next month. A total of nine clinicians working across Scotland have been notified of their success and invited to take part in a special ‘Big Pitch’ event, taking place on 8 June at the QEII Conference Centre in Westminster, London.

Giving tranexamic acid to women with placenta praevia (when the placenta covers the cervical opening) undergoing caesarean birth leads to a significant yet modest reduction in severe bleeding after delivery with no evidence of an increase in serious adverse events, finds a trial from China.

New research presented at this year’s European Congress on Obesity (ECO 2026) in Istanbul, Turkey (12-15 May) shows that people who gain the highest amount of weight across adulthood are at greatly increased risk of certain obesity related cancers.

Essity, the global hygiene and health giant behind Tork, has opened a major £30 million-plus recycled fibre processing facility at its Prudhoe mill in Northumberland, supporting the company’s position as Europe’s biggest user of recycled fibre in tissue production.* Essity's biggest investment in the UK for a decade, the opening will significantly strengthen the UK’s sustainable hygiene supply.