Shaun Lintern's Avatar

Shaun Lintern

@shaunlintern.bsky.social

Health Editor at The Sunday Times. Health Journalist of the Year 2023. Helped expose #MidStaffs. Public interest journalism matters #E17 #patientsafety πŸ“° https://www.thetimes.co.uk/profile/shaun-lintern πŸ“ DMs open πŸ“¨ shaun.lintern@sundaytimes.co.uk

23,547 Followers  |  1,549 Following  |  1,021 Posts  |  Joined: 25.09.2023
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Posts by Shaun Lintern (@shaunlintern.bsky.social)

Post image 28.02.2026 11:20 β€” πŸ‘ 19    πŸ” 9    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

The Amos interim report tells us nothing new sadly. Families have been put through a process that so far seems pointless. And again NHS England and DHSC past policies and leadership is not being examined nearly enough.

26.02.2026 07:14 β€” πŸ‘ 15    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
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🚨 GP practices to be paid up to a max of £12,000 for boosting childhood vaccination rates as Enfield measles outbreak underlines risks of 10-year low uptake in child jabs. In The Sunday Times print edition:

22.02.2026 09:45 β€” πŸ‘ 11    πŸ” 5    πŸ’¬ 3    πŸ“Œ 0
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🚨 BREAKING: Hip and knee ops across England will be rationed by the NHS as a major supplier of cement used in orthopaedic surgery has suffered an outage that could last months. To protect emergency trauma patients hospitals will be told to prioritise patients by NHSE today:

18.02.2026 12:05 β€” πŸ‘ 28    πŸ” 21    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 4

Showing that low vaccination rates doesn't always mean people are anti-vaxxers, but that NHS needs better outreach.

17.02.2026 13:50 β€” πŸ‘ 5    πŸ” 4    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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I always like doing a little positive ending to a story (which no one ever reads of course) so here is my bit on the excellent work of GP Zoya Hussain on raising vax rates in her GP work:

17.02.2026 10:47 β€” πŸ‘ 37    πŸ” 9    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 2
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BMA staff to vote on strike action over 'eroded' pay

More than 400 workers at @bma.org.uk are being balloted on strike action after the doctors trade union offered them a below inflation pay rise of 2.75% www.gmblondon.org.uk/news/bma-sta...

16.02.2026 10:34 β€” πŸ‘ 9    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

For almost a year The Sunday Times has been running a campaign on vaccines. This week we were nominated for a UK Press Award (having won a British Journalism Award in Dec for our vaccines work). That we report this today saddens me greatly:

15.02.2026 19:47 β€” πŸ‘ 188    πŸ” 52    πŸ’¬ 10    πŸ“Œ 3

I am very pleased to tell you that The Sunday Times was the paper that exposed Wakefield. And more recently we have been running a pro-vaccines campaign. We won an award for it in December. I agree some media have promoted conspiracies, we have done the exact opposite.

15.02.2026 19:44 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Thank you @shaunlintern.bsky.social for covering our new Marie Curie research.

🚨1 in 3 people in England and Wales die with unmet palliative care needs.

🚨That’s 170,000 people each year.

🚨Meaning that every three minutes someone dies with suffering that could and should be alleviated, but is not.

15.02.2026 10:46 β€” πŸ‘ 17    πŸ” 7    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 1

Regardless of the outcome on #AssistedDying we need good quality #palliativecare in the UK. It affects many more people than the AD bill ever will. @mariecurieuk.bsky.social new research is sobering and a call to action πŸ‘‡

15.02.2026 10:32 β€” πŸ‘ 27    πŸ” 14    πŸ’¬ 3    πŸ“Œ 0

The one is not linked to the other.

15.02.2026 10:31 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Regardless of assisted dying, we need good palliative care. It affects many many more people than that bill ever will.

15.02.2026 09:22 β€” πŸ‘ 8    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
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One in three dying in pain as palliative care crisis deepens People in their final days are often not getting proper pain relief, as a study reveals an β€˜enormous volume’ of unnecessary suffering

The government is planning a new modern service framework on #palliativecare but the final report has been delayed to the autumn and has no new money attached to it.

@mariecurieuk says there needs to be 24/7 access to palliative care and advice

Read: www.thetimes.com/article/7552...

15.02.2026 08:47 β€” πŸ‘ 17    πŸ” 6    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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London measles outbreak: more than 60 children infected Cases are spreading between children in Enfield as the virus exploits low MMR vaccination rates, medical experts say

🚨 EXCLUSIVE: Health officials are racing to contain a growing measles outbreak in London, which has struck down dozens of young children and affected 7 schools and a nursery.

UKHSA has warned an outbreak across London could see 40,000 - 160,000 cases:
www.thetimes.com/uk/healthcar...

14.02.2026 18:43 β€” πŸ‘ 231    πŸ” 187    πŸ’¬ 21    πŸ“Œ 86
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One in three dying in pain as palliative care crisis deepens People in their final days are often not getting proper pain relief, as a study reveals an β€˜enormous volume’ of unnecessary suffering

🚨 Clare Welch pleaded for help from NHS 111 as her dying mother screamed in pain in the other room. Told a dr would call, 4 years on she is still waiting for that call back.

New @mariecurieuk research has found 170,000 people die in pain every year: www.thetimes.com/article/7552...

15.02.2026 07:50 β€” πŸ‘ 35    πŸ” 16    πŸ’¬ 3    πŸ“Œ 2

Measles is miserable. We need easy access to vaccine clinics, with health visitors and nurses having the time and resources to answer parents' questions.

14.02.2026 19:51 β€” πŸ‘ 22    πŸ” 10    πŸ’¬ 7    πŸ“Œ 0

Vaccination rates are as low as 50% in some boroughs, even lower in smaller pockets hidden by averages. As each year goes by the pool of unvaccinated children grows. The modelling was UKHSA so can't speak to the figures

14.02.2026 19:15 β€” πŸ‘ 67    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 1

MMR rates in Hackney (not far from the Enfield schools with the current outbreak) are at a shockingly low 60 per cent. It's seriously worrying

14.02.2026 19:01 β€” πŸ‘ 30    πŸ” 16    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 0
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London measles outbreak: more than 60 children infected

Cases are spreading between children in Enfield as the virus exploits low MMR vaccination rates, medical experts say

14.02.2026 18:47 β€” πŸ‘ 16    πŸ” 10    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 6

This matters because London has among the lowest vaccination rates for measles in England - there are many pockets of unvaccinated communities that could be at significant risk from a runaway outbreak:

14.02.2026 18:49 β€” πŸ‘ 165    πŸ” 87    πŸ’¬ 6    πŸ“Œ 9
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London measles outbreak: more than 60 children infected Cases are spreading between children in Enfield as the virus exploits low MMR vaccination rates, medical experts say

🚨 EXCLUSIVE: Health officials are racing to contain a growing measles outbreak in London, which has struck down dozens of young children and affected 7 schools and a nursery.

UKHSA has warned an outbreak across London could see 40,000 - 160,000 cases:
www.thetimes.com/uk/healthcar...

14.02.2026 18:43 β€” πŸ‘ 231    πŸ” 187    πŸ’¬ 21    πŸ“Œ 86
Chair’s statement on Lucy Letby application review - Criminal Cases Review Commission Lucy Letby – application timeline There has been much discussion in the press and on social media about Lucy Letby’s

CCRC statement on Lucy Letby - "We do not make decisions on the basis of external pressure from anyone." - timeline confirms Letby has now waived legal privilege: ccrc.gov.uk/news/chairs-...

13.02.2026 13:18 β€” πŸ‘ 8    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 3    πŸ“Œ 1

BREAKING Keir Starmer confirms that Chris Wormald, the cabinet secretary, will be stepping down.

No 10 says this is "by mutual agreement" but senior officials say that he was pushed out.

12.02.2026 16:44 β€” πŸ‘ 118    πŸ” 24    πŸ’¬ 29    πŸ“Œ 12

1.4 million NHS workers will receive a 3.3% pay rise from April - more than the 2.5% budgeted for. With no new cash, further cuts will be needed from somewhere. With a Β£1bn extra drugs bill and costs of ICB redundancies, how much of Β£29bn extra for NHS will be spent on patients?

12.02.2026 16:04 β€” πŸ‘ 10    πŸ” 9    πŸ’¬ 6    πŸ“Œ 2
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Nurses to benefit from boost to graduate pay and job progression Government and Royal College of Nursing agree comprehensiveΒ package to recognise value of profession.

Govt announces higher pay for nurses and reviews of all band 5 pay grades - but no actual numbers or funding so really very difficult to work out if this is substantial or not. Why the Govt is frightened of revealing ££ cost may suggest an answer: www.gov.uk/government/n...

11.02.2026 20:15 β€” πŸ‘ 20    πŸ” 5    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
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Thousands of operations cancelled to save NHS money

Thousands of operations cancelled to save NHS money

08.02.2026 02:37 β€” πŸ‘ 3    πŸ” 5    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
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Putin’s Death Road soldiers in Ukraine β€” unmasked Russian soldiers tried to cover up war crimes on the highway to Kyiv. They failed

Unmasked: Putin’s Death Road killers - Russian soldiers tried to cover up their war crimes on the highway to Kyiv. They failed.

@dominichauschild.bsky.social exposes Russian war criminals in The Sunday Times: www.thetimes.com/article/fcbb...

08.02.2026 09:30 β€” πŸ‘ 23    πŸ” 10    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

My dad paid privately (and my parents aren't especially wealthy) because he couldn't walk more than 100 m and was in constant pain and he's been told he would have to wait six months plus for a hip replacement.

08.02.2026 08:33 β€” πŸ‘ 16    πŸ” 4    πŸ’¬ 4    πŸ“Œ 0

Go read any set of ICB Board papers and you’ll find the whole system has made 9-figures worth of β€œefficiencies” in the year, yet the ICB providers are often still nowhere near break-even budget.

It is frankly impossible to cut that much without cutting patient care.

08.02.2026 08:39 β€” πŸ‘ 15    πŸ” 8    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0