Hospitals

Extreme weather breaks MRI scanners and cooling units, as workload rises for sleep-deprived staff on sweltering wardsDoctors have sounded the alarm over the disastrous impact of extreme heat on the NHS in England, with radiotherapy machines and MRI scanners failing, critical IT systems stalling and cooling units that serve entire hospitals breaking down.The hot weather has also prompted a surge in admissions and people arriving at A&E, causing severe overcrowding in some places and exacerbating heat-related pressures on infrastructure. Continue reading...

Temperature on Tuesday hits high of 34.6C in Surrey, England, with heatwave forecast to get more intense on Wednesday and ThursdaySearing heat has swept the UK with schools, hospitals, transport networks and water companies struggling to cope with the extreme temperatures caused by climate breakdown.Temperatures hit highs of 34.6C in Wisley in Surrey, the Met Office said on Tuesday, with the UN chief warning that London was “cooking”.Reduced rail speeds and services;Hospital patient appointments cancelled;School closures across southern England and Wales;Hosepipe bans in south-east England;Spikes in sales of fans, ice-cream makers and sun cream. Continue reading...

• Ongoing hostilities between Israeli forces and Hezbollah militants have led to increased strikes on Lebanese hospitals and essential services. • The targeted attacks on healthcare infrastructure are severely deteriorating the humanitarian situation for civilians across the region. • These strikes matter as they cripple the medical system's ability to treat casualties and manage chronic illnesses during an active conflict.

Plan to move 240,000 people off scheme leads states and territories to jointly warn they can’t ‘deliver like-for-like services to people who are exited from the NDIS’Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastState and territory disability ministers have rung alarm bells over the Albanese government’s proposed overhaul of the NDIS, warning they can’t deliver “like-for-like services” for more than 200,000 participants expected to be shifted off the scheme by 2031.The Albanese government’s national disability insurance scheme bill is designed to dramatically curb the growth of the $50bn-a-year scheme by first reducing budgets and then the number of people who can access it from 2028. Continue reading...

Five hospitals in England and Wales have switched to test taken at home, rather than invasive hospital procedureNHS hospitals are using a new way of diagnosing bladder cancer that is faster, more accurate and more convenient for patients than the existing test.Doctors said the Galeas bladder test is a major breakthrough because it involves a urine test taken at home rather than an invasive procedure done at hospital which is uncomfortable for patients. Continue reading...

Research suggests NHS trusts with higher empathy ratings also benefit financially and have improved staff wellbeingPatients and staff fare better at hospitals that rank highly on empathy, research suggests, with institutions also benefiting financially by spending less on agency staff, locums and consultants.The finding comes from the first study to rate NHS trusts in England according to an empathy score that is drawn from information on the organisation’s culture, leadership behaviour and practitioner empathy, among other factors. Continue reading...

Airstrikes in south of country kill nine people and wound another 150, most of them medical staffMiddle East crisis – live updatesThree hospitals in southern Lebanon have been attacked by Israel in under a week, wounding more than 150 people and killing nine, according to Lebanon’s ministry of health.Israel carried out an attack in the immediate vicinity of the public hospital in Tebnine on Wednesday, just days after strikes next to the Hiram and Jabal Amel hospitals in Tyre. The attack next to Jabal Amel on Monday killed four people and injured 127 – most of whom were medical staff. Continue reading...