The number of drug-related hospital stays rose by almost 500 in the last year, according to official figures. There were 7,537 hospital admissions with a diagnosis of drug misuse in 2015/16, up from 7,054 in the previous year. The number of patients involved increased from 5,404 to 5,922 over the…

Allegations against nurses and midwives will no longer be available for public scrutiny ahead of disciplinary hearings, a regulator has said. The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), which was criticised over its handling of the charges against Ebola nurse Pauline Cafferkey, has decided to no longer publish allegations against medical…

Healthcare assistants (HCAs) are being used as "nurses on the cheap", with some working beyond their expertise, according to a new report. Despite a lack of training, HCAs are often left unsupervised to plug gaps in NHS care because of nursing shortages, the study from Unison found. Some are being…

Thousands of parents of sick or premature babies are being prevented from having close involvement in their child's hospital care because of a lack of support services, a new report has found. Charity Bliss said that for these babies, it is vital that parents take a "lead role" in the…

Regular monitoring of prostate cancer as a treatment option offers the same chances of survival 10 years after diagnosis as surgery or radiotherapy, a major study into the disease has discovered. The decade-long trial, which examined men with localised prostate cancer, found survival rates were extremely high, approximately 99%, irrespective…

Carers are getting an extra helping hand at Princess of Wales Hospital after full-time carer support worker, Victoria Rodwell, is now based there following the success of a pilot project. Victoria’s role involves going around the wards and departments, liaising with staff to identify carers. The aim is to ensure…

Scotland's Chief Statistician today published the results from the Inpatient Census, 2016. This Statistics Release presents the latest national figures for patients occupying a Mental Health, Learning Disability or Addiction Inpatient Bed in an NHS Scotland facility at the Census date of 31 March 2016. Figures from the Out of…

"Secret" plans to close underfunded A&E departments and hospitals could be used as a stalking horse for privatisation, Labour has claimed. Shadow health secretary Diane Abbott said the Government's plans are already "far advanced" but have received no public consultation. Over the summer an investigation commissioned by campaign group 38…

Rationing is rife across the NHS, with patients suffering cutbacks to treatment and expensive drugs, a major survey of doctors has found. The research, for the Press Association and ITV, found cuts to cancer treatments, costly medicines, mental health services and knee and hip replacements. Some patients have been left…

Hospitals will have to make "unpalatable" decisions about care levels and jobs unless the NHS gets an increase in funding, the head of one of the service's largest trade bodies has warned. NHS Providers chief executive Chris Hopson said the health service is "increasingly failing to do the job it…

The number of days lost through so-called "bed blocking" in England is at its highest monthly level on record. Patients taking up beds when they no longer required hospital care took up 184,188 days in July compared to the 147,376 days in the same period last year, according to NHS…

One of Britain's oldest nurses has celebrated her 83rd birthday - and vowed to carry on working. Monica Bulman started work aged 19 in 1952 - just four years after the National Health Service was founded. Since then she has clocked up 64 years working for the NHS, treating tens…