More and more patients are being forced to stay in mixed-sex wards. The Government must recommit to closing them instead of turning a blind eye. Lib Dem Shadow Health Secretary, Norman Lamb The number of patients suffering the indignity of staying in mixed-sex wards soared to 908 in July 2017, more than double the number in […]

The NHS urgently needs more investment so it can meet its targets and provide the care patients deserve. Lib Dem Shadow Health Secretary, Norman Lamb  The number of people waiting for routine surgery in England topped 4 million in June, the highest level for a decade, figures from NHS England have shown. This government’s shameful underfunding of the […]

One elderly patient had to wait more than three years to be let out of a mental health unit after being declared ready to leave. These figures are a humanitarian disgrace. Lib Dem Shadow Health Secretary Norman Lamb Figures on mental health delayed discharges released today are a “humanitarian disgrace”. The shocking new figures revealed that […]

Sir James Munby’s revelations reinforce that our mental health system is in need of urgent reform and investment. Lib Dem Shadow Health Secretary Norman Lamb As a health minister, I was proud to make sure mental health was at the top of the political agenda, but today’s judgement by Sir James Munby highlights how much work […]

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) yesterday (Wednesday 20th July) published the findings of its inspection of all specialist mental health services, giving the most complete picture ever of the quality of mental health provision for people in England. Inspectors said they found too much poor care and far too much variation in both quality and access […]

Record high levels of suicides and self-harm amongst prisoners are linked to failing mental health services in England’s prisons, a damning report by the National Audit Office has found. The number of suicides in prisons reached a record high of 120 in 2016, while the number of self-harm incidents reported in prisons also soared to a record […]

There has been a sharp fall in nurses from EU countries registering to work in the NHS, new figures have revealed. The Health Service Journal reports that monthly statistics show the number of EU nurses registering with the NMC to work in the UK peaked at 1,304 in July 2016, a month after the referendum, […]

Research by the Liberal Democrats has shown that over 10,000 operations were cancelled due to hospital beds being unavailable in 2016, up almost 60% from two years ago. Across 40 NHS trusts in England, the number of operations cancelled due to beds not being available has almost doubled from 6,545 in 2014 to 10,259 in […]

Closing wards and services, extending waiting times, and stopping some treatments are all being considered by senior NHS officials in controversial plans to curb spending, the Health Service Journal has revealed. The controversial measures are reportedly being discussed privately between top officials from NHS England and NHS Improvement and health managers in 14 areas of […]

Up to 250,000 children living in poverty across England will have their lunches taken away under Theresa May’s plans to abolish universal free school lunches for infants, Liberal Democrat research has revealed. The figures, which have been broken down by constituency and local authority, show 260 children living in poverty are set to lose out […]